Kyami
by Chione Jinx S
Summary: Never in her wildest dreams did she think she could find love in a world that barely existed but she did. Maybe now she could have a bit of the life she'd always wanted. Femslash. Lemon now included K-Mart/O.C.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually, but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think. Gracias and One Love.**

_She watched the sunset with a blank expression; she could still see the tiny spec on the horizon that was the Umbrella helicopter. She felt numb knowing that her inhibitions kept her from ensuring that more people would have been on that flight headed to Alaska but she hurriedly pushed that thought to the back of her mind. The sounds of the undead around her both comforted her and grated on her nerves; she wasn't worried about them as she knew they wouldn't come within five feet of her but their stench and sounds annoyed her. She vaguely wondered why Alice hadn't gone with the others but figured it wasn't any of her business what the woman was doing in the Umbrella facility. As she turned away from the facility she heard a faint roar that could only belong to a tyrant but didn't even entertain the thought to check, Alice was like her; she could take care of herself._

_Kyami didn't fancy the desert much, hell before the world ended, she rarely even ventured onto a beach, sand just wasn't her thing but she stayed in Nevada because it was quiet, there was nothing to hear but her own breath. She'd heard what Alice had said, Alaska may be infection free; that was something worth checking out but not yet. People weren't something she was anxious to spend time with, she preferred the undead, at least they left her in peace; they expected nothing. At the pace she was going, she'd make it to Alaska in maybe three years, especially with her tendency to explore entire states before moving on. _

(14 Months Later)

Kyami sat on the thick tree limb as the cold breeze blew against her face. She needed to find a house to spend the winter before it got too cold to move around. The winters had gotten more brutal since the spread of the T-Virus. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, looking closer she saw that it was a small hoard of undead, it was unusual, seeing as she had only encountered maybe 20 undead since passing through the populated parts of Washington. She watched as the 50 to 60 undead veered to the right in an organized curve as they neared the tree she resided in and a small smirk came to her lips at their wariness. As she watched them disappear into the darkness, she closed her eyes and decided to get some much needed rest. It was only about 2 hours later when the sound of a gunshot woke her.

At first she thought she was dreaming but the subsequent gunshots proved otherwise. Curious, she started heading in the direction the hoard had gone earlier. Before she'd even taken five steps she heard yelling. The memory of what she'd allowed to happen in the Nevada desert came to the forefront of her mind, the people she had watched die before Alice had shown up. Kyami decided she'd help these people if she could, but if they turned on her afterwards then she'd help no one else ever again. With that thought in mind she started running and within seconds she came upon a clearing with a small cabin in the center, it would have been a picturesque scene if not for the hoard of undead surrounding it. She could see that they had breached the cabin through the front door and she could hear screaming coming from within. Upon approaching the door, the hoard parted to allow her access, the fleeting thought crossed her mind that they acted as subjects in the presence of their queen. Upon entering the cabin she saw that she was too late. There was blood all over the place and the undead were feasting on what looked like four adults and two children, including a baby who looked no more than 6 months old. As her eyes fell on one of the groups, she could see that the screaming she heard a few seconds ago were coming from that man as he was still fighting the undead eating him, she knew there was no point attempting to save him as she would have to kill him later on when he turned but the least she could do was put him out of his misery. As their eyes met, he raised his hand and pointed to a door behind her; then his eyes closed as the life left him. She holstered her pistol and turned to the door he'd pointed to, she tried the knob and found it locked but could hear a faint whimpering. Heading back outside she circled to house to the window for that room, she could hear the undead beating on the door of the room as soon as she exited the house and she knew she needed to act quickly before they got to whomever was in that room. Using a rock she found below the window, she broke the glass and used her sleeve covered arm to clear all the jagged edges. As she entered the room she heard growling and more whimpering, looking in the corner of the room between the bed and the wall she saw a fierce looking German Shepherd and beyond the dog she saw a small child curled into a ball between the night stand and the wall. After giving the dog an intense look and allowing it to sniff her hand, it walked up to her and licked her face. She knew the dog would be loyal to her no matter what, it was in part because of the same reason the undead wouldn't come near her. She could hear the hinges on the door creaking and knew she didn't have long before it gave way to the collective weight of the undead.

"Hey sweetie, what's your name?"

Who she could now tell was a little girl due to the length of the hair escaping the winter coat, only sniffed and refused to lift her head. Deciding to leave the girl for last, she went around the room stuffing clothes into a knapsack she found. Kyami couldn't tell if the clothes belonged to the girl in the corner or the one in the living room but she had no time to check. She didn't know who the man was to the little girl but she figured it was the only angle she could use to get the little girl up and moving.

"Sweetie, I know you're scared right now and you want your parents but your Daddy sent me for you" said Kyami anxiously

The girl lifted her head and with tears streaming down her face said in a shaky voice, "Papa?"

"Yeah honey, your Papa. He can't come right now so he sent me. How about we get out of here and away from the scary people? Hmm? Would you like that?" asked Kyami with a calming smile.

"What about Bee?" asked the child with an anxious look on her face.

"Who's Bee sweetie?"

"My dog" answered the child while pointing to the German Shepherd was sitting patiently by the window

"Bee's coming with us. Do you wanna tell me your name?"

"Ashley"

"Okay Ashley, let's get out of here," said Kyami while holding out her hand for the child to take.

When the girl stood, Kyami offhandedly wondered what she'd gotten herself into. The little girl looked no older than 4, maybe 5 years old. She had long honey blonde hair reaching her waist, bright amber eyes despite her tears and rosy cheeks that made her resemble the cherubs Kyami used to see in paintings. She was wearing only her flannel pajamas and Kyami hoped the undead wouldn't get through the door before she could get the child into clothes more appropriate for wandering through the forest in winter. She knew they wouldn't attack the child while she held her but she didn't want to take the chance of them following her through the window when she left, she needed each and everyone one of them in the cabin. As she helped Ashley get dressed in thermal underwear, jeans, a t-shirt and her insulated jacket and pink fur boots, she prayed she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew.

Upon getting both Ashley and Bee out the window, she scanned the surroundings to see if there were any straggling undead and upon finding none she sat Ashley under a fir tree and told Bee to guard her. The dog immediately took a stance in front of the toddler trembling with fear. She gave the child a kiss on the head and told her she'd be right back; instead of answering Ashley only released a whimper that almost broke Kyami's heart and held on to Bee's tail.

Heading back into the cabin, Kyami closed the ruined door as much as she could, hoping none of the undead would smell Ashley and decide to venture outside. She quickly filled a duffle bag she'd found in the bedroom with all the food it could hold and put the rest in her pack. With that finished, she took a container of the gasoline she found and doused the two bedrooms and the bathroom. Taking the other two containers and the duffle of food, she proceeded to douse the kitchen and the living room including the still feeding undead with gasoline. She closed the door behind her as she exited and after placing the bag of food under a tree near the cabin, she started pouring the remainder of the gasoline around the exterior of the cabin, throwing the container through the broken window of the bedroom when she was finished.

All that was seen a few minutes later in the remote mountains of Washington, was the figure of a woman with a toddler in her arms and a dog by her side walking into the woods while the moans of the undead rose from a burning cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually, but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think. Gracias and One Love.**

**A/N: Thanks to EndlessOne for your review and for being my first reviewer for this story, thanks for taking the time out to read it. Thanks also to all those who've followed and favorited, I really appreciate it.**

Kyami Malti never saw herself as a mother, as a child she'd hated her parents and vowed never to have any children of her own. The ending of the world had taken the choice out of her hands as even if she'd wanted kids, she would never dream of having any in a world where people were eating each other. As she watched Ashley sleep, while having a super human grip on the sleeve of her jacket, Kyami wondered if she'd be able to keep this kid alive, she would do everything she could but she knew things didn't always go as planned. As the child whimpered in her sleep and tightened her already impossibly strong grip, Kyami pulled her closer to her chest and kissed her on the forehead, causing her to relax her grip and release a sigh. It had been 8 months since Kyami had rescued the child from the small cabin in the remote mountains of Washington and already they were closer than Kyami thought possible.

Surprisingly, Ashley had warmed up to her in the space of a few days and five months afterwards had taken to calling her momma. At first Kyami had been shocked and had kept correcting the child, telling her that she wasn't her mom but it didn't work and after a week, she'd resigned herself to her fate. If she was honest with herself she was more than a bit attached to the kid herself, she fought it as best she could but who could look at that sweet innocent face and not fall in love? She'd found out that Ashley was four years old and had no idea when her birthday was so together they'd chosen November 28th as her birthday as it was the first day she had smiled after losing her parents to the hoard. After spending 8 months traveling with Kyami, Ashley now 5, could light her own fire with minimum help and assist in gathering firewood. They were now in Canada and only about a week's journey from Kamloops in British Columbia. Kyami knew that she should have been in Prince George by now. She had to be traveling slower than she'd planned because of Ashley but she didn't mind, at the moment Ashley was her top priority. She was happy she could incapacitate the undead without a physical attack because if not she would have been in a tough spot traveling with a toddler who couldn't defend herself.

(14 Months Later)

After traveling day and night for four days, she was finally in Alaska. It wasn't easy carrying a 6 year old while she slept, she wasn't heavy but after not eating for almost a week so that Ashley could always have her fill, Kyami was beginning to feel weary. She'd found some uninfected fish near the town of Whitehorse in Yukon Territory so she knew Alaska would have a never ending supply. She could smell the water of the sea; thankfully she had enough strength left that she knew she would be able to catch and cook the fish, and feed herself, Bee and Ashley before passing out. It didn't take long to set up camp, because at 6, Ashley knew how to do most everything that needed to be done and assisted with it all. While laying and staring at the stars with Ashley on her chest snoring softly, Kyami thought about what Alaska could bring them, there was no definite sign that uninfected people were there, yes there were uninfected fish in the water and she'd seen dear, squirrels and other uninfected animals but that didn't mean that humans had made it there or that the people who lived there had survived the apocalypse. And in any case, she wasn't sure she was ready to live with other people again, as a child people were never genuine with or nice to her and after going on her own at 10, things only got worse, the people she met travelling across the US were hardly ever nice, even to a kid. As she drifted to sleep, she thought to herself 'Why not stay in this spot for a time? Maybe I can finally teach Ashley how to fish.'

The next morning Kyami awoke to the hot August sun shining brightly, Ashley's gentle laughter and squealing and Bee's excited barking. After preparing breakfast for all of them, she spent the day teaching Ashley to fish and playing in the lake with the child and the dog. They ended up spending two weeks at the beach just relaxing and enjoying themselves. She loved seeing Ashley happy and carefree, the way a 6 year old should be or would have been if the world hadn't gone to hell. She knew it would be better for Ashley to grow up with people so she would know how to interact with them if the world ever went back to even half of what it used to be, so with that thought in mind, two weeks later they packed up camp and set off in search of the town Alice called Arcadia.

They had been traveling for over a month before Kyami saw the wooden fence in the distance, based on the size of it and the sentries she could see posted at points, she could tell it was a strong hold of survivors. Instead of moving towards it, they set up camp by the Yukon River, which she'd ensured they kept in sight so as to always have a source of fresh food, she preferred to conserve what they'd found at the last town.

"Momma?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we always gonna keep moving around?"

"Don't you like moving around?"

"Yeah but…..what about other people, ones that don't try to eat us? We're not the only ones left, right?"

"No honey, I don't think we are. We'll settle down soon, maybe with some other survivors, okay?"

"You promise?"

"I can't promise you that honey but I'll try my best. Okay?" replied Kyami, thankful that Ashley couldn't see the fence, she didn't want her getting her hopes up only to be disappointed if the people we're friendly. Sometimes being a monster came in handy.

"Okay momma"

"I know you want someone to play with, other than me or Bee but what if we find other people and they're not what you expected?"

"I don't expect anything Momma, I just hope we find another little girl, sometimes you're a bit boring."

"Me?! Are you really calling your Momma boring?!" asked Kyami with an amused grin

"Well yeah, all you do sometimes is read, like a lot. I get that reading's fun but you do it too much." replied Ashley with an exasperated sigh

"Haha, I'll show you boring, come here you little munchkin, let's see how much fun you can handle!"

After chasing the laughing girl around the camp site for a few minutes and tickling her until she couldn't laugh anymore, Kyami prepared dinner and ensured everyone was fed and content. After Ashley had gone to bed, Kyami left Bee on guard duty and set out to investigate the fence she saw and who it protected. She'd be damned if she walked her daughter blindly into any danger.

It only took Kyami a few seconds to run the half mile from the camp site to the fence. She wanted to ensure she could explore the compound thoroughly but be away from Ashley for the least amount of time possible. She didn't want make the assumption that just because she hadn't seen any undead for a long time that everything was safe. Standing on a branch in a fir tree tall enough to overlook the compound, she watched as people moved about talking to each other. The buildings in the compound were an acceptable size; they seemed to be able to house a family or two each. The fence was circular and it seemed they'd built the houses to accommodate any expansion if needed. There was at least 20ft between the fence and the first row of houses which bordered the fence. There were 30 houses but not all seemed occupied. Each occupied house had 3ft of garden out of the 20ft of space between the house and the fence but all the houses had 16ft of space that was plain dirt with sharpened stakes sticking out of the ground with only a few inches between each stake. Any intruder would be dead before they hit the ground as no one, even jumping off the 10ft fence, could clear the 16ft of spikes without some kind of damage.

The second and final row of buildings, which was in the center of the compound, seemed more like a cluster than a row. At the far end, there was a hollow building which could only be a meeting hall, the building beside it seemed like a storage room of sorts and what could only be described as a school and then there were 2 more houses. At the end of the row towards the front of the compound where the gate was there was a large farming area. To a regular person it would look like a bare piece of land as it was night but Kyami could see all the plants clear as day. As she sat on the limb plotting the best course to take around the houses without being seen, she saw two people exiting one of the houses in the middle of the compound. Seeing them brought back memories she had buried over two years ago but it seems she was gonna have to come to terms with them cause it looked like tomorrow she would be meeting Alice and Claire in person for the first time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually, but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think. Gracias and One Love.**

**A/N: Okay so Alice and Claire may seem O/C to you guys but I kinda just went with the flow, idk. Thanks to my new reviewer Vampirenickcage for your review and EndlessOne thanks for sticking with me.**

As she walked back to their camp site, Kyami thought about the best course of action to take. She knew moving into the compound would be the best idea as strength was found in numbers and Ashley needed to be around more people even if only for a while. It wasn't something she personally wanted to do but Ashley's wellbeing was always top priority. She just prayed she didn't have to fight her way out when they found out what she was because she knew witnessing that could never have a good effect on Ashley. Thankfully Ashley hadn't had to witness her killing anyone in the time they'd been together as she always took care of any undead remotely and most times out of her sight. As soon as she arrived at the camp, Bee curled up and was asleep in seconds, knowing that she was off duty for the time being. Kyami quickly got in her sleeping bag and settled in, despite it being the middle of August, the nights were a bit chilly, the drop in temperature didn't affect her in the slightest but she made sure to drape her arm around Ashley and pull her closer to ensure she remained warm throughout the night. With a slightly worried expression on her face, Kyami closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The following morning dawned bright and cheerful. It was one of the rare mornings where she awoke before Ashley as usually she didn't go to bed until the early hours of the morning so by the time Ashley woke up: she was just in the deep stages of sleep. It was a curse of being a monster, she didn't need much sleep and even if she did, her sensitive hearing kept her alert and coupled with her bad experiences so far, sleep just didn't come easy, especially seeing as she had someone else to watch out for. Deciding to get a head start on breakfast, she went to the river to catch some fishes and it didn't take long before she had six large fishes in hand. It wasn't until the fishes were roasting that Ashley finally emerged from the tent rubbing her eyes in the cutest way possible. Barely opening her eyes, she made her way across the camp site to sit in her mother's lap, eager for their morning cuddle session; it was something they never missed no matter their schedule or what they had planned. Life wasn't something to be taken for granted, especially now and all they had was each other.

"Hey sweetie, did you sleep okay?" Kyami asked after placing a kiss on Ashley's temple.

"Uh huh" replied Ashley drowsily

"How do you feel about roast fish with some corn?" ask Kyami while wrapping her arms a bit tighter around her daughter.

"Not creamed corn right?"

"No honey, not creamed corn. We ate the last tin yesterday"

"Thank God" Ashley whispered

"Haha. Go wash up, breakfast will be ready soon" said Kyami while setting her daughter down

"Okay Momma" replied Ashley while staggering to the river's edge with an excited Bee walking beside her, tail wagging furiously, anxiously receiving her morning petting from the sleepy little girl.

After having their breakfast, they washed their utensils, banked the fire and packed up camp. Kyami was a bit apprehensive about going to the compound but from what she'd seen in the Nevada desert three years ago, Claire and Alice were good people. If they were good from the end of the world up until that point, she highly doubted three years would have made them evil, or maybe that was just her hope talking, or what was left of it anyway. They had only been walking for forty minutes before Ashley saw the fence.

"Momma what's that?" inquired the little girl

"It's a fence baby" replied Kyami not taking her eyes off the sentries who she knew had spotted them

"But why is it out here? Only trees are out here" asked Ashley with a look of confusion on her face

"It's out here because it's protecting something, like people or animals"

"Like real people? Who don't try to eat you and stuff?" asked the child with wonder and excitement in her eyes

"Yes honey, exactly like that" replied Kyami with a small smile

"You think the people it's protecting are nice?" asked Ashley with a look of apprehension on her face

"I don't know baby but I hope so"

With that thought in mind they continued to approach the large gates at the front of the compound. The sentry she'd seen leave his post, presumably to notify either Alice or Claire, if not both of the fact that they were approaching the gates, returned and within seconds all the sentries near the gates had their guns trained on them. Ashley let out a whimper and Kyami quickly moved the frightened child behind her, she knew she could stop any bullets to come their way but she wasn't taking any chances.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd lower your weapons, you're scaring my daughter" said Kyami loud enough to be heard by all the sentries and anyone on the inside of the compound near to the gates

"Who are you and what do you want?" shouted the sentry closest to the gate on her right

"I'm a survivor" was Kyami's only response

Within seconds the gates slowly began to open until they were wide enough to allow Claire and Alice to stand side by side in the entry; they opened no further.

"What's your name?" asked Alice

"My name's Kyami and this is my daughter Ashley" answered Kyami after staring at Alice for a few seconds, she knew what Umbrella was capable of and she wasn't taking any chances that this was a brain washed clone. Anything was possible after all; belatedly she realized she should have checked out that avenue of thought last night before bringing Ashley near the compound.

"How did you find this place?" inquired Claire in suspicion

"I heard some transmissions about three years ago about a town called Arcadia, the transmissions came from Alaska so I set out to find it, took me a while though" lied Kyami, she knew she couldn't tell the truth about how she'd heard about the place, that would open a can of worms that she was sure none of them was ready to deal with.

"Alright, this is Alice and I'm Claire; welcome to Arcadia" responded Claire after sharing a look with Alice

As Kyami took Ashley's hand and began to walk through the gate, a thought occurred to her and she immediately asked the question that was on her mind. "Wait, why didn't you ask if we were bitten?"

"Because I can tell if someone is infected or not and even if I couldn't, you both would need to go through a medical exam as soon as we get inside and the compound is secure again" replied Alice with a small sardonic smile on her lips

At Alice's reply, Kyami's step faltered but only for a second, none of the people watching them seemed to catch it but from the smirk on Alice's face, she knew her falter wasn't entirely missed. She should have known Alice was capable of detecting other infected, they were similar after all.

"We can talk at the house, come on" said Claire without looking to see if the new arrivals were following

With her guard up, Kyami put her arm protectively around Ashley and followed Alice and Claire into one of the houses located in the center of the compound, she couldn't help the feeling of doom that fell upon her as Claire closed the door behind them. Before she could say a word, both women turned and pinned her with a glare and the first thought to enter her mind was "I wonder if this was a good idea".

"Look before either of you say anything, if you think you're doing this for Ashley's sake you've got another thing coming. I know what you think and it's not like that at all"

"Really? Enlighten us then, what do we think?" asked Claire with a pointed glare

"You think I'm infected"

"Think? I know you're infected" replied Alice

"Momma? Is that true? Are you gonna die?" asked Ashley, eyes filled with tears and a scared expression on her face

"No baby it's not true, these women just don't understand something and they're making an assumption, okay?" replied Kyami while hugging Ashley to her side

"You sure?" asked Ashley with an unsure expression on her little face

"Of course baby, I would never lie to you"

"Okay" responded Ashley with a small subdued smile

"Look, is there someone that could maybe keep her while we talk? Cause if you're going to keep spouting accusations without hearing me out I don't want you to upset her"

After looking at Kyami for a very tense moment, Claire opened the door and said something to the people gathered in front of the house, within a few minutes she was back with a woman who was about Kyami's age.

"Kyami, Ashley, this is K-Mart. She can keep an eye on Ashley while we talk" said Claire after re-entering the house

"Hi" said K-Mart after acknowledging Kyami with a nod of the head

"Hey Ashley, how about we go do some colouring, would you like that?" K-Mart asked Ashley in a friendly manner

"No! I wanna stay with my Momma!" shouted Ashley with a scared expression and fisting her hands in Kyami's shirt

"Honey don't worry, it won't be for long. As soon as I'm done talking with these nice ladies you'll see me again okay?" said Kyami while stooping to be on Ashley's level, she hated to see to the tears in her eyes but she had no choice but to ignore them for the time being.

"But Momma –" Ashley started

"Ashley, please go with K-Mart. I'll be there soon and you'll have Bee to keep your company" said Kyami with a reassuring smile

"You promise?" asked Ashley with an unsure expression

"I promise. Now go" replied Kyami while gently pushing the child towards K-Mart

"Okay" Ashley responded sadly while reluctantly moving towards the front door of the house and ignoring the hand K-Mart held out to her. As she passed Claire and Alice, she stopped and gave them a glare that could melt the hardest of metals before continuing to the door. She stood by the door waiting for K-Mart and Bee, the latter who was still sitting at Kyami's feet, anxiously looking between Ashley and Kyami.

"Go with her Bee, you know your job" ordered Kyami while only sparing the dog a glance and a pat on the head

With that statement, the black and tan German Shepherd quickly went to stand beside Ashley whose left hand immediately found purchase in the thick fur surrounding the dog's neck as they both stepped through the door, the little girl with tears in her eyes. As K-Mart moved to exit the house, Kyami decided to give her a warning.

"Oh and K-Mart, in the event I decide to leave this place, I expect there'll be nothing in the way of me leaving with my daughter, because if there is I'm sure you wouldn't want to find out how much you can endure before you beg for death"

As the door closed behind the young woman, Kyami's eyes remained trained on the two women who were now on full alert.

"Now, how about we have that talk?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually, but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think. Gracias and One Love.**

**A/N: Thanks to my new reviewer Vampirenickcage for your review. I must say after rereading what I've written it wasn't exactly what I had planned but sometimes I'm not conscious of where the chapter's going until after I've written it. The beginning of this chapter may be slightly disappointing but I kinda just go with the flow.**

"I don't appreciate you scaring my child like that" stated Kyami with a scowl on her face

"She would have found out sooner than later, would you rather she find out when you're trying to eat her alive?!" shouted Claire "How can you put her in such risk and then stand here and act as if you love her?" she continued with a look of contempt on her face. "It's a good thing you brought her here, now we can get rid of you and keep her safe."

"I would never hurt Ashley and you're not separating us. If you try to take my daughter from me I will fight back even if I have to kill each and every one of you in this fucking compound!" shouted Kyami with a fury in her eyes

"Both of you calm down! How about we just talk about this like adults before we start killing each other? Let's hear her out Claire, she knew what we intended to do and she still allowed K-Mart to take Ashley" said Alice while looking Claire in the eyes

"Uhg, fine" said Claire while sighing in resignation

"How long ago were you bitten?" asked Alice with an apprehensive look on her face, she didn't trust this woman at all, especially with the high quantity of T-virus she could sense running through the woman's veins.

"Eleven years" answered Kyami with a blank look on her face

"What?! That's not possible!"

"You're lying!"

Both Alice and Claire shouted in shock and indignation.

"I'm not lying. And I'm sure if you get whichever doctor you have here to check, you'll find no scar or bite mark anywhere on me." Kyami replied with a sigh, she knew that even if they believed her, they'd still check for proof.

"How is that possible?" asked Alice in shock

"Simply put: I'm like you, Alice. I bonded with the T-virus on a molecular level. I was bitten by an undead when they attacked the place a group of us had taken refuge, I didn't tell anyone and a few days later instead of dying, the wound healed and after a week my skin was as good as new. Within a few days I realized I didn't need food as much as before, I could sense the undead and I was stronger and faster than normal." replied Kyami contemplatively

"Did you tell the others then?" asked Alice with a raised eyebrow

"No, we were attacked twice after that and no one else survived the second attack"

"Seeing as you could sense the undead, didn't you warn them before the attacks?" Claire asked condescendingly

"Of course I did! But no one listens to a ten year old" Kyami replied

"Ten? Fuck! You were just a kid, how could you survive the pain that comes with the transformation?" exclaimed Alice in wonder

"I have a high pain tolerance" replied Kyami with a shrug

"So how did you survive after they were killed? Didn't you have trouble with the undead?" Claire asked curiously

"No, the undead don't bother me; they actively try to stay away from me actually."

"That's not possible, not even I'm safe from them!" Alice exclaimed

"I can only tell you what I've seen. It may be that the strain of virus that I was infected with is superior to theirs"

"You could be right. I've seen infected dogs obey commands from Chairman Wesker and he was infected with an extremely strong strain of the virus" remarked Alice

"Who?" asked Kyami with a look of curiosity on her face, she couldn't let them know she knew who he was and had actually met him on several occasions.

"He was the head of the Umbrella Corporation" answered Claire

"Oh, okay."

"Well now that you're not a threat to the compound and your daughter virus wise, how do we know you don't pose some other threat? We can't and won't take any chances" stated Claire seriously

"Simple, my daughter is my top priority. She needs to be around people, and I won't do anything to jeopardize that. As long as no one tries to hurt her, I'm harmless. I know you guys won't trust me right away and I don't expect you to cause honestly I don't trust you guys either but I'm willing to do my part. We're all that's left, humanity needs to survive this."

"Wait, you said you were bitten when you were ten, right?" asked Claire

"Yeah, why?"

"Does that mean that Ashley's infected too?" asked Claire curiously

"No, Ashley was adopted in a sense. I found her two years ago in a small cabin on the outskirts of Vancouver. A hoard had passed me earlier in the night but I didn't give them a second thought until I heard the gun shot, I was only in time to save her but I made sure to dispose of the hoard before we moved on. I've been her mom ever since."

"Okay, well I don't know you and I don't trust you but I can tell that your heart's in the right place and not just because you saved a little girl so, you're welcomed to join our colony. Alice?"

"I agree with Claire, even though the amount and strength of the virus in your system makes me kind of nervous, I can tell you're not an evil person, so welcome to our colony"

"Thank you for having us, now, I think it's time I go get Ashley before she decides you guys are the enemy" responded Kyami with a small smile

"Yeah you're probably right, that girl of yours is a fighter, and if looks could kill that glare she gave us before leaving would have turned us to ashes."

"That she is, unfortunately she's had to grow up too fast, I want her to enjoy her childhood, something I never got to do, that's one of the reasons I want us to stay here"

"I understand, let's go get your girl and then we can get you guys settled in."

As they exited the house, Kyami was greeted with the sight of an anxious group of people, the adults seemed a bit wary while the children looked excited. She guessed the adults were wary of a new family joining their seemingly tight knit "village" and the children were probably excited to get a new play mate. Before Alice and Claire could notify the assembled group that Kyami and Ashley would now be a part of the compound as soon as they completed the compulsory medical exam, they heard a commotion to the right side of the house.

"I want my Momma! Let me go!" shouted Ashley while fighting the tight grip the man had on her arm

"I'm not gonna hurt you! Calm down!" the man pleaded

"Jake! What the hell are you doing?!" shouted Claire, she wasn't entirely sure what Kyami was capable of but she didn't want to find out what would happen if she decided her daughter was in danger.

"Let her go!" shouted Kyami

"Momma!" shouted Ashley with joy. Bee was growling at the man holding her but he refused to let her go and she was ready to allow Bee to attack the man. Thank God her Momma showed up.

"I was only trying to stop her from barging back into the house but she kept screaming she wanted her Mom" answered Jake while releasing Ashley.

"Where's K-Mart?" asked Alice while watching the tearful reunion between mother and daughter, the tears were from Ashley but the glare being sent Jake's way by Kyami made her hope she never got on Kyami's bad side.

"She had to go handle something with Becky and she asked me to watch Ashley until she came back. At first everything was okay even though she was only standing in the corner and wouldn't talk to me but then she insisted she needed to see her mother and no matter what I said she kept trying to get back to the house so I held on to her, that's when she started to scream and fight me" answered Jake while rubbing his left knee, the kid had got in a lucky kick and it was still smarting.

"Alright, go help Andrew with whatever he needs help with and if you see K-Mart on your way, let her know I need to speak with her" Claire said while shaking her head, that boy would do anything for K-Mart, even if it meant watching a little kid that had a tendency to get violent.

"Okay" Jake responded before walking away with a minor limp

"Let's make that trip to the doc, then we can show you guys your house so you can get settled in" said Claire while walking away


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually, but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think. Gracias and One Love.**

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows, I'm starting to get some mild writer's block, I'm writing through it but hopefully it'll leave me alone. In a few chapters you'll start to see some interaction between K-Mart and Kyami, I know they've barely spoken but as I said last chapter, I just go with the flow.**

"Does she always do such thorough exams? I'm sure I didn't need a breast exam, what if she'd found a lump? What the hell would she have done, kick me out of the compound? Jeez!" asked Kyami in exasperation

"But she was very nice to me Momma, maybe she just didn't like how you spoke to her" said Ashley with a shrug

"Yeah, you may be right Ashley, Lei doesn't like back talk" responded Alice with a smile

"Back talk?! I never gave her back talk, she was nosey and I didn't appreciate her questions" said Kyami indignantly

"Suurrreeee" responded Claire with a laugh

Dr. Lei Matthews had been somewhat wary to give Kyami an exam when she was told of her infected state but quickly went on with her duties when she found out Kyami wasn't contagious. She had no issues performing her exam on Ashley but quickly realized it wouldn't be as easy to deal with Kyami as she was very tight lipped about her medical history and was prone to insubordination when asked a question she wasn't fond of.

Despite not trusting Alice and Claire entirely, Kyami felt surprisingly comfortable in their presence, almost as if they were friends, their rocky start aside, she found herself relaxing with them. "Whatever. Now, which house are we staying in? After that woman practically violated me I need a bath as soon as possible" Kyami said with a grimace

"Well despite being new to the compound, with your abilities we thought you'd be a great addition to our security detail and as a result you'll be staying in the house beside ours, that way you'll be near in the event of an emergency." Claire responded as they turned down the street.

Kyami knew that wasn't the only reason she was being placed so close to the leaders: she was dangerous and they wanted her close so that they could keep an eye on her, not that she blamed them, she'd do the same thing if she was in their position.

As they approached the house they saw K-Mart walking towards them with a little girl holding her hand, the little girl had curly brown hair that was a good few inches below her shoulders and intense brown eyes. She was wearing a plain pink blouse and jeans shorts and her face lit up as soon as she saw Alice and Claire, within seconds she'd let go of K-Mart's hand and was running to Alice.

"Mom!" she shouted excitedly

"Hey honey, where have you been?" asked Alice as she bent to scoop the little girl into her arms

"I wasn't feeling so good but K-Mart helped me feel better" the little girl answered with a smile

"That was nice of her, so—"

"Are these the new people? I heard Dr. Lei talking about how one of them had a potty mouth. What's a potty mouth Mom?" she asked curiously

"I'll tell you later and yes, this is Kyami and her daughter Ashley; they'll be a part of our community from now on. Kyami, Ashley, this is my daughter Becky"

"Hi!" said Becky enthusiastically

"Hi!" responded Ashley excitedly. She didn't know anything about this girl but Alice was nice so her daughter probably was too, hopefully Becky would want to play with her.

"Daughter huh?" responded Kyami while eyeing Alice. She knew Alice didn't have any children when she saw her in the desert three years ago and Becky was definitely older than three years but she knew adoption was probably the answer. "Hello Becky, pleased to meet you" she continued with a small smile.

"Now we don't have locks on the doors, only bolts but people here respect each other's privacy so no one will barge through any door unless the person on the other side is in danger." stated Claire as they entered the house. "The house has three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. You guys will share the outdoor sinks for washing with us but you have your own clothes line. We don't have running water so you'll have to get water from the community tank like everyone else; that's located beside the farm. Food is distributed every Sunday from the storage facility and you'll get enough to last you and Ashley until Saturday. On Saturdays Andrew who's in charge of the storage facility and also a chef, cooks for the entire compound and we have dinner in the meeting hall. Seeing as you came on a Friday, you and Ashley will eat dinner with us tonight and breakfast tomorrow, we have enough to share. Nothing is hoarded here, we share everything equally."

"Okay got it. What about jobs? I know I'm a part of the security detail as you've said but what do I do on a daily basis and what about Ashley?

"You'll get your duties tomorrow; as for Ashley, she'll go to school for part of the day and all the children are taken cared of during the day by K-Mart and others so she'll be fine"

"Hmm, alright"

"We'll leave you guys to get settled; one of us will come get you when dinner's ready okay?"

"K, see you guys later"

It didn't take her and Ashley long to get settled seeing as they didn't have much belongings. The first thing she had to do was place Bee's mat in the living room as that was where the front door was. She wasn't taking any chances, polite people or not, she'd learn a long time ago that people weren't always nice even though they were polite. All three bedrooms were furnished with a simple wooden cot with thick blankets, some boxes to put their clothes in and a simple chair. The bathroom had no toilet only a pit; there was a basin with a jug to wash with and a spotted piece of mirror. The kitchen had a table to eat around, four chairs and a place where they could wash their utensils, the living room seemed the most homely of all the rooms, there was a large rug before the fireplace which she assumed was for both cooking and warmth, there were also two cushions and a small table. Kyami winced when she considered all the soft beds they'd slept in before being ensconced in the woods, she knew the people here had done the best with what resources they had but as she looked about the house she immediately saw how they could improve the place, how they could have running water, toilets, sinks and real furniture but she knew she'd have to find out the skills of the people first cause she sure has hell wasn't gonna take all the improvements on her head alone.

She knew they had a few hours before dinner so she decided to pass the time playing a few games with Ashley. She would have preferred to read one of her books but didn't want Ashley to get too lonely.

She learned during dinner that night that K-Mart lived with Alice, Claire and Becky. She'd deduced from being in Alice and Claire's company that they were in a relationship and it was confirmed when Becky referred to Claire as her Mommy during dinner. She'd seen a vague chemistry between them when they'd interacted in the desert but it was overshadowed by whatever had been going on between Alice and the man she heard them refer to as Carlos. It seemed Alice had moved pass that and at least she seemed happy, that wasn't something many people could attest to in this desolate world.

As she laid in her cot that night waiting for sleep, Kyami wondered if she would ever find or have even a portion of what Claire and Alice had with each other. She had heard people say when she was younger how captivating her emerald green eyes and pitch black hair was and that she'd make some man extremely happy one day but the features she was praised for was also one of the reasons why she was tortured every day. No one else in her immediate family had those features, she was the mirror image of her maternal grandmother, a woman she had adored until her death when Kyami was only seven, after that she was left alone in a world where she was used by her parents, abused by her siblings and patronized by everyone else. She'd only ever known the love she'd gotten from her Nanna and now from Ashley. She feared she wouldn't even be able to recognize romantic love if it slapped her across her face now. She knew she was still young but in a world such as this young meant nothing, the only thing that really mattered was the people around you and how long you could survive if left alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think.**** Gracias**** and One Love.**

**A/N: Okay so I can't set up an update schedule cuz my life is sporadic at best and chaos at its worst. I've just left college and the job hunt is stressing me but sometimes I get some temp work to do for a few weeks so sometimes I don't get to write so I'll just post my chaps whenever my hands get the chance to type up what my mind spews out.**

It only took two weeks before Kyami started to become restless and after a month of being a part of the team of sentries guarding the compound she was ready to tear her hair out. She was a physical person by nature and always had to be on the move, even before the outbreak she'd had trouble keeping still, always fidgeting. One of her teachers had recommended her parents take her to get evaluated for ADHD but her parents had disregarded the suggestion; instead she'd gotten a new teacher. As she grew, the urge to be constantly in motion had tapered but after being on the move constantly for twelve years, she had a hard time staying in one place for a long time. She very much preferred moving around the continent like a nomad than staying in a compound where all she did was watch the surrounding forest during the day and read with her daughter at nights. After the second week Alice and Claire had started inviting the family of two for game nights once a week but it just wasn't enough for Kyami, she was getting cabin fever and in the worse way.

As she watched Ashley play with the other kids in the compound, Kyami thought about how far she'd come. At first Ashley would only talk and play with Becky but soon the hearing impaired girl had her playing with everyone willing to spare the time. She knew that if she left Ashley would be okay, the little girl had friends and Kyami trusted K-Mart to take care of her little angel. She knew it would be unfair to leave her daughter on these people but what choice did she have? She had to leave, if only for a while but she couldn't take Ashley with her and anyway wasn't that their plan in the beginning: to kill her and keep Ashley?

"All this thinking is giving me a headache" said Kyami under her breath while massaging her temples. As she turned her head again to look at Ashley's face filled with joy, she saw Dr. Lei walk towards her house carrying with her some bushes, ones Kyami knew were used to treat cuts and other ailments as medicine was practically none existent in the compound. As she watched the doctor enter the house an idea came to her, she made a mental note to pass it by Alice and Claire after her shift.

"Alice? Claire? Can I talk to you guys?" asked Kyami that evening while entering the women's office which was actually the extra room in their house.

"Sure Kyami, is something wrong?" asked Alice in concern. Over the month Kyami had been at the compound, they had built a friendship of sorts stemming from their mutual situation. She'd gotten to know the woman a bit and even though she knew Kyami was keeping a lot of things from them, she'd found herself trusting the woman as she saw a bit of herself in her.

"I need to leave" Kyami said with a straight face, getting right to point

"Leave?" asked Claire in shock and confusion

"I can't stay here, I need to keep moving. I'm restless and I get anxious all the time being locked in this compound day after day. I was planning to just go and leave Ashley here because I can't take her with me but then I got an idea. The doctor needs medicine, well overall we need supplies, the more the better. I figured I could do that, do supply runs for the compound"

"While I like your idea, that would put you and us at risk, I know the undead aren't a danger to you but they could follow you back here to us and what about Ashley? You're her mother." asked Alice

"The undead would never follow me anywhere, they tend to go in the opposite direction of me and as for Ashley: with this solution she'll see me when I return with supplies. It's a great idea, one that will benefit both of us, the compound gets much needed supplies and I get to travel"

After looking in Kyami's eyes for a few tense moments, Alice answered in the affirmative reluctantly with a sigh. "Okay, we'll get lists from Lei and Andrew and then you can leave at your leisure. We'll take care of Ashley for you"

"Alice! You can't seriously…Kyami! Please rethink this, I know you've been on your own for over eleven years but anything can happen!" plead Claire

"You're right but I also need the change of scene, I'm compromising by doing it this way or otherwise I'd just leave permanently and I don't want that. I need to see Ashley, even though I have to leave her doesn't mean I love her any less."

"Fine" Claire said in resignation, from the way Kyami spoke she knew nothing was going to change her mind.

Kyami knew it was selfish and unfair to Ashley but she waited until the night before she was to leave to tell Ashley of her impending trip. The six year old had been distraught and refused to release her mother's shirt. Alice and Claire had burst into the house after hearing the wailing cries coming from the little girl and when they saw the way she was holding on to her mother and the tears falling from Kyami's eyes, they knew that Kyami had finally told the child the news and proceeded to exit the house. It took Kyami almost two hours to convince Ashley that she hadn't done anything wrong and that she still loved her and another half hour to get the little girl to calm down enough to fall into a fitful sleep. That night for the first time since they'd arrived at the compound, Kyami slept with Ashley on her chest.

The next morning the atmosphere surrounding the small family was somber. Ashley refused to eat: still convinced her mother was leaving because of something she'd done although she had no idea what it could be. The people in the compound gathered at the gates to wish Kyami a safe trip, and as she shouldered her pack, she stooped to tell her daughter goodbye one last time before the gate opened.

"Please don't go Mommy" pleaded Ashley as tears ran down her face

"Don't cry angel, I'll be back before you know it" said Kyami sadly as she wiped the tears from Ashley's cheeks

"Please, please, please! I promise I'll be good. Please!" plead Ashley in desperation, her cries shaking her little body. Kyami was all she had, she didn't want to lose her Mommy, there were too many bad people outside the compound; she didn't want her to get eaten.

"I'm sorry baby. K-Mart and the others will take good care of you until I come back., okay? I love you" said Kyami while hugging her daughter

After giving Ashley one last kiss and nodding to Alice and Claire, Kyami walked through the open gates, never looking back despite the agonizing cries of her child.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Femslash eventually, but not for a while. All mistakes are my own cuz I have no beta. Read on and please tell me what you think. **

**A/N: Okay so I know this chapter is short, but I have good reasoning, I'm out of town doing a temp job (finally! A paying job!) and I had to leave my laptop at home cuz I'm staying with my sister and I intend to keep her and her son as far away from my laptop as possible cuz they contributed to my last one dying (may you rest in peace CoCo). So anyway, I'll continue writing when I get home at the end of the month so an update should pop up early next month, despite my slight writer's block (tho I attribute my writer's block to my nephew constantly screaming in my ear when I'm home, can"t be too creative with that level of disturbance or I'd be typing chapters on my phone). One Love people!**

_Kyami watched sadly from the French doors in the kitchen as her brothers and sisters played in the back yard, she didn't bother to entertain the thought of joining them in their game as she knew they'd only call her names and tell her to go away and anyway she wasn't allowed to play; according to her parents, she was too valuable to play like a regular child. She'd completed all her assignments but her mother said she still had to study until time for her piano lesson which was still three hours away. _

_She sometimes wished she wasn't smart, maybe then she'd be able to do what regular children did. She loved reading but she wasn't allowed to read anything that wasn't a textbook; she also loved music but wasn't allowed to listen to any music that wasn't classical, after all she couldn't play a pop song on the piano to impress the people her parents entertained. She turned her head and looked at the folder with the logo of the Umbrella Corporation resting on top of her biochemistry textbook, and wondered if they would provide any of the freedom an eight year old girl would enjoy._

As the morning sun greeted Kyami's eyes she wondered when she would dream real dreams again instead of reliving memories. She remembered that day vividly, it was the day she decided to accept the offer from Umbrella Corp to work with Dr Ashford, apparently they'd been impressed with her mind and her graduate paper on the genetic structure of humans as it relates to the chemicals found in our environments and their reactions with human DNA. If she'd known what would result from such a partnership, she would have studied for those three hours instead of reading up on Dr Ashford's researches and Umbrella Corp.

It had been ten days since she'd left the compound. Ten days since she'd felt the small hands of her daughter hugging her. Ten days since she'd left her angel crying for her at the gates. She'd just got to the town nearest the compound and was in the process of collecting all the medicine the doctor had ordered along with some which weren't on the list but she knew they would be useful. She already had a duffle bag filled with medical supplies and this knapsack with medicine would be enough for the time being. She knew she could have gotten everything and be back at the compound in less than a week but she'd travelled slowly on purpose to prolong the time she spent away. She really missed Ashley and surprisingly Alice and Claire but she really needed this time alone.

She stayed in the town for five more days exploring before she gathered the other supplies she needed. She got all the edible food she found which covered most of the list she'd gotten from Andrew; the clothes, shoes, utensils, and blankets covered the rest. When she got to the place where she and Ashley had camped before heading to the compound, it was night and she'd been away from the compound for exactly a month. She was happy she'd mastered her telekinetic abilities years ago as otherwise she wouldn't have been able to carry everything she had in one trip. As she prepared for bed that night, she wondered if Ashley would be happy to see her return or if she'd be angry at her. Her angel had a temper and just because it hadn't made an appearance when she was leaving didn't mean it wasn't gonna show up when she returned.

"Hey Alice, how's Ashley doing today?" asked Dr Matthews in concern. Since her mother left ten days ago, Ashley had retreated into a shell, she refused to speak to anyone other than Becky or K-Mart and the word around the compound was that she was certain her mother was gone for good because she didn't want her any more.

"Hey Lei, she's doing a little better than before, she still won't talk to anyone but she ate some of her breakfast today which is a big improvement to not eating at all." Alice answered tiredly, she was really worried about Ashley and Bee but she had no idea what to do about it. "I have a sneaking suspicion that Becky has been hiding some of her food and giving it to her all this time or she wouldn't have held out this long. Bee's been just as withdrawn but she's been eating."

"You're probably right about Becky, think Kyami's gonna come back?"

"I honestly don't know. I mean she could have left without saying anything but she chose to do a supply run instead"

"You have a point but how could she leave her daughter like that? You saw how Ashley was crying and she didn't even look back"

"I don't think she had a choice"

"What do you mean?"

"She needed to leave but she thought it best to leave Ashley here with us; she didn't want to uproot her again and she'd be safe here"

"Yes but why did she **have** to leave? She was here for only a month, she almost lost it when she realized that at first you'd only intended to keep Ashley, so why get angry about that and then leave a month later? It doesn't make any sense"

"No you're right, it doesn't but I guess she had her reasons" answered Alice contemplatively. She knew why Kyami had left even though she hadn't spoken her reason out loud. It was the same reason Alice had wondered alone for so many years before she'd met Claire. She was forcefully ostracising herself because of what she could do, looking at yourself as a monster usually blinds you to how great you are in other's eyes. Claire opened her eyes, so maybe Kyami needed someone to open hers.

"Yeah you're right; I just hope she comes back because that little girl needs her"

As Kyami approached the gates of the compound with the supplies floating along behind her, she saw a sentry leave his point of watch and then heard a commotion in the compound as people ran to the gates. She waited with bated breath as the gates slowly opened, wondering if Ashley would be there to greet her. It was only her years of self-training in controlling her abilities that prevented her from dropping the bags she had suspended in the air, as Ashley leapt into her arms. A tear fell from Kyami's eye as she held her daughter for the first time in a month and smelled her skin.

"I missed you Mommy!" shouted Ashley with Joy

"I missed you too angel, soooo so much." replied Kyami softly


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So as I said last chapter, I got home at the end of last month but honestly I stayed away from writing for so long that when I reunited with my laptop I was at a lost as to what to write, at one point I completely forgot where I was going with the story, it took me a few weeks but I managed to squeeze this out except now that I'm back here I'm wondering what the hell's gonna happen when I get a permanent job. Damn I need to practice better time management, sigh, such is the life of a young adult with untreated ADHD. Fucking hell.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. **

Kyami had been back at the compound for almost two months now, the high she'd received from her last "supply run" had kept her relaxed for a while and the joy of being around her daughter had kept her calm the rest of the time. She knew they hadn't gone through enough supplies to warrant another run right now but she already had her excuse planned out: the improvement of the facilities. Her second day back she'd started asking around and found out that most of the men had some experience in basic wood work and a few had some ideas about plumbing. Their experience wasn't ideal but she knew with a little direction they could accomplish what she had in mind. The resulting supply run wouldn't be exactly what she wanted but at least she'd get out of the compound and the work they'd be doing when they got back would be enough to keep her occupied for at least a few months, Kyami had no clue what she would do after that but resolved to cross that bridge when she got there.

"Alice? Claire? Can I talk to you guys?" asked Kyami as she knocked on the door to their office.

Alice and Claire prayed Kyami wasn't telling them that she needed to leave again, she rarely visited them in their office and the last time she did, they had had a hard time getting her daughter and dog to eat after she high tailed it out of the compound.

"Hey Kyami, what can we do for you?" asked Alice while motioning for Kyami to have a seat.

"I have a proposal and before you guys ask yes it will involve me leaving for a while—

"Again?! We told you what happened last time—" began Claire

"Just hear me out before you start the lecture Claire, this trip will probably benefit us all on a greater scale than the one before and it will help to solve the issue we're having with heating during the brutal winter months" explained Kyami calmly.

After giving Kyami a searching look, Alice told her to continue. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like parts of what Kyami would have to say but chose to give her the benefit of the doubt. She could admit though that she was curious as to what the young woman had in mind, she knew the girl was smart, after all she wouldn't have survived out in this world alone at such a young age if she wasn't.

"Okay, with some supplies, which we can gather in town, I know how we can improve our living conditions by getting running water, toilets, sinks and real furniture, maybe even electricity, though we'd have to hold off on that part for a while. All the supplies we need are readily available and I've been checking around, the men and even some of the women in the compound have enough knowledge to get everything set up and working. The plumbing will be a bit tricky but it's manageable. We can set up plumbing in all the houses, even the ones that aren't occupied and connect them to air tanks that we'll put on each roof, which we'll have to reinforce beforehand. I know that would mean manually filling them when they get empty until we can set up a reliable electrical system but I think we can make it work. For the time being though we'll set up pipes to bypass the unoccupied houses. There will also be some drums which we'll place in the top of all the houses which will contain hot water, I've noticed that all of the houses are the same height and with some tinkering we can set up a system where the water will continue to circulate as the fire from the fire places in each house heats it. All the air tanks will be connected to each other via insulated pipes to prevent the pipes being frozen during winter. The drums will also be insulated and so the water will remain hot throughout the night therefore warming the houses even after it stops circulating and the fires are out." finished Kyami with a smile.

"I have a few questions. Who would spearhead this project and how do you intend to get the supplies here? Your telekinetic abilities are impressive but it will take even you a while to travel with that much material and it will take quite a few trips as well. I like your idea in general but I just can't see how you're gonna get it started. Along with that, how do you even know the people will be okay with all the work these renovations are gonna take?" asked Alice with a look of confusion on her face.

"Firstly, I would be the one spearheading the project and yes that means I'll have to stay put for a good few months after this run cause I'd want us to get this done before winter hits and that can be accomplished with help from my abilities. Secondly, I know we have to ask the people for their opinion but I have a strong feeling they wouldn't object since I know more than a few of them really miss flush toilets and showers. As for getting the materials here well that's where I know we may have a problem." answered Kyami with a little trepidation

"And what problem would that be?" asked Alice cautiously

"I would have to take a few men with me" Kyami answered with a sheepish look on her face

"Take—! Are you out of your fucking mind?!" shouted Claire in shock and anger. She couldn't believe that Kyami would put others at risk just so she could calm her restlessness under the guise of improving the compound. "You want to take men out there where they could get killed just to get some supplies?! Shit we can do without and have been for years?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Would you calm down a second and listen to me?" asked Kyami in mild irritation.

"Calm down?! You want me to calm down when you're saying you want to take people out where they could be infected just to assuage your restlessness? Fucking hell!" shouted Claire in exasperation as Alice shook her head in disappointment. She really thought Kyami had her head on her shoulders and that she had the survival of the people at the forefront of her mind but it seemed she was more selfish than she appeared.

"Just hear me out, I can guarantee their safety. I know based on your reaction that you guys don't trust me even a little bit but I know what I'm asking. I can guarantee that no one will get hurt and no undead will follow us back here. I wouldn't put anyone at undue risk, I'd ask for volunteers and if no one wants to go with me I'd go by myself even if that means multiple trips to get everything here" stated Kyami with a blank expression, she had no idea their lack of faith in her would hurt and she had no intention of letting them know how she felt.

"How? How can you guarantee their safety?" asked Alice curiously

"The last time I was out I didn't just collect supplies. Ever since I got here I could see where things could be improved and I knew that if more survivors showed up we would need to expand, with that thought in mind I knew we would need to venture into town to get supplies and I wouldn't be able to make the runs alone, so after gathering what we needed I left them in a safe place and set up a perimeter about five miles out of town on all sides. I also set up sound traps similar to those in the perimeter, ten miles out on either side of the path leading to town so any way an undead would be coming from we'd hear them. They also surround the compound in all directions for twenty miles, leaving about four miles directly around the compound trap free. I know there aren't any undead near here, maybe not even in the state but it doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"Okay so you've set up a perimeter and traps, I get that they can be effective warning systems but how can they keep everyone safe if people come on the supply run with you?" asked Alice insistently

"Well one thing is that once they stick close to me the undead wouldn't even think of attacking them though that isn't a scenario I'd want to test. The other thing is all the sound traps are equipped with two sounds, one is loud and obnoxious, in essence a recording of a large herd I'd gotten rid of in New York a few years back, if an undead trips the wire he'll be assaulted with the sound of a lot of undead which at first will confuse him, something I've tested, the sound only lasts for a few seconds, long enough to warn any humans within hearing distance but short enough not to attract other undead if in the vicinity. The other sound the traps are equipped with is so high only I will be able to hear it and maybe you Alice, I'm not sure because I don't know your sound range. In the event that any of the traps go off, I will eliminate that threat. I'm adept at locating and incapacitating an undead at a distance of thirty miles in all directions and have taken down groups of over six hundred with only a single thought" answered Kyami with a smirk on her face. She may be a monster but she was an exceptional one.

"Fuck" whispered Claire in surprise

"You have—you have that much power?" asked Alice in shock

"Not always, I've had years to practice" replied Kyami with an undecipherable look on her face as memories of what she went through to get to this point assailed her mind.

"All I can say is that we'll have to plan your trip according to how everyone reacts when you tell them your idea. If anyone decides to come with you they take that risk on their own terms but you have to do everything in your power to ensure they get back here alive" responded Alice after a few minutes, she had a feeling the little knowledge Kyami just imparted of her abilities was nothing near half way of what she could truly do.

"That's something I have no problem agreeing with. I wish no one any harm and I don't make promises I can't keep but I can promise you that I'll do whatever it takes to make sure we all come back alive. As long as they follow my instructions to the T everything will be fine." Kyami said with a shrug

"Okay. We can tell them the news tonight at the community meeting"

As Kyami left Alice and Claire's office to head home, she wondered how she was gonna break the news that she was leaving again to K-Mart and even more to Ashley.

**A/N 2: Now I honestly don't have a clue if what I said about the heating system of barrels would really work but I read about something similar in a book, can't even remember its name. It would be nice if y'all would drop me a review now and then, let me know what's up, if what I'm writing makes sense or if it's a load of crap. One Love**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games.**

**A/N: So I have good news, I got a job, one that seems permanent. Unfortunately, with my hefty student loans to repay I'm being forced to live with my sister, the same one I was staying with last month, so regrettably it may mean a longer time between updates. And to think, mom's saying I may have to live there for a year before getting my own place, I was like hell no!**

**A/N2: Okay so in this chapter we finally have some interaction between Kyami and K-Mart, some of you have probably been waiting patiently (I hope) for this and here is your reward!**

Since returning to the compound Kyami and K-Mart had established a tentative friendship after K-Mart had given her a thorough cussing out about how Ashley had reacted to her mother's sudden departure. Kyami respected the fact that K-Mart cared about Ashley enough to confront her after the threat she'd thrown the first time they met. She liked interesting people and K-Mart was nothing if not intriguing. Since that day they spent every Tuesday and Thursday evening just talking and getting to know each other. Kyami was honestly shocked that she enjoyed-Mart's company as the only person who's company she enjoyed since she was nine years old was Ashley's and even she had taken some getting used to. She dreaded and looked forward to their standing get together that night which usually commenced after K-Mart got the girls settled at Becky's house for the evening. She knew she had to tell K-Mart about her plans before she found out at the community meeting because the cussing she knew was going to happen would be worse. She decided to break the news as close to the time of the meeting as possible so as to lesser the amount of time K-Mart would have to rant and rave about her decision which meant she had at least two more hours of pretending she wasn't apprehensive about K-Mart reaction, oh joy.

As the knock sounded at the door, she vaguely wondered why K-Mart's feelings and thoughts mattered so much to her, it was something to be looked into but she pushed it to the furthest part of her mind as she told K-Mart that the door was open.

"Hey Kyami, what's up? Not busy I hope" asked K-Mart with a smile

"Hey, just here waiting for you actually. I made chilli tonight, hope that's okay?"

"Sure, I love chilli"

After having dinner and washing up together they sat on the cushions in the living room, both watching the flames in the fireplace for a few minutes and enjoying the surprisingly comfortable silence.

"The last few weeks you've been avoiding my questions. I know you probably figured I didn't realise every time you redirected them or changed the topic to distract me but I've noticed. So, tonight is all about you. You've learned a lot about me since we started this friendship and admittedly I've learned a few things about you but nothing deep, nothing that really screams Kyami, you know. Now I plan to change that, so any objections?"

"I have a distinct feeling that even if I objected it wouldn't matter, so go ahead, if you ask a question I can't or am not ready to answer I'll let you know" answered Kyami with a small smile.

"It's not that it wouldn't matter, I'd take it into consideration but I'd still ask my questions" responded K-Mart with a cheeky grin. Kyami had the fleeting thought that she'd love to see that smile more often but pushed that thought away.

"Alright, you told me once that you didn't go to high school, I figured that's cause the virus started spreading when we were still in elementary school so which elementary school did you go to?"

"I didn't" responded Kyami with a blank expression

"What? Could you explain?" asked K-Mart curiously

"I didn't go to any formal school, I learned at a different pace than regular kids so my parents hired teachers or tutors for me, they came to my house and taught me there and when I had learned all that teacher could teach me another was brought in and so on."

"Huh well that must have sucked. Okay what about siblings did you have any, and were they home-schooled too?"

"I uh—I had four siblings and no they went to regular schools" Kyami answered vaguely

"Do—weren't they jealous that you got special treatment? What about sibling rivalry?"

"Uh look, can we move on to another topic? My family isn't something I want to take about right now" responded Kyami tensely as thoughts of what her elder siblings did to her on a daily basis just because of the special treatment her parents imparted on her, ran through her mind, treatment she could have lived without.

"Okay, sure. How about how you found out you were different? I know that you're like Alice but she was infected in an Umbrella lab and I know you weren't."

"Well as you know I was bitten when I was ten, back then the city was filled with so many undead that people had begun to give up hope. It was a group of about eighteen of us that were hiding out in the building." Kyami began softly "I had been bitten over a week by then, the bite wound had healed but I kept having weird dreams. At first I thought they were dreams but I still experienced them while awake so I knew that couldn't be it. I could hear the undead from afar though, something that couldn't happen before. We'd closed off two floors down so they couldn't get to us and normally I wouldn't have been able to hear them unless I was on the floor they'd stopped but now I could hear their every move from my little corner. It was unnerving at first but I got used to it, the smell took a bit longer. I could sense where each and every one of them was, that was how I knew that they'd breached our barrier before everyone else did. I woke up the guy who had been acting as our leader but when I told him and he couldn't hear any sign of the undead on the floor below us, he called me a liar and sent me back to bed, we lost six people that night before we got the emergency door to the floor above us sealed. We were now three floors shorter when it came to places to hide. I noticed that night that I could move things, it wasn't a big sign, I'd only just moved a chair an inch or two when I was accused of being the one who let the undead in, which was only based on the fact that I warned him of them before there was any physical signs. When they broke through our barrier again a week later I was given a black eye when I went through the trouble of warning them again. I found out what I could do when I tried to save them despite how they treated me and an undead had turned towards me. I was so scared that I couldn't move, the only thing that went through my head was a scene I saw in a movie once where the man had broken the neck of a thug that broke into his house, next thing I knew the thing in front of me let out a sickening sound as his neck turned in the same angle as I was envisioning. I'd broken its neck without moving a muscle. By the time I'd recovered from my shock enough to consciously try to replicate my stroke of luck, everyone had at least two undead feasting on some part of their body. It took me a good ten minutes before I realized that other than that first undead that had turned in my direction, none of them paid me any mind, it was as if I wasn't even there." Kyami ended absently, she could still feel the confusion, fear and horror that ran through her body that day. If only they had listen instead of allowing her brothers to beat her for 'lying and trying to scare them'.

"That's—that must have freaked you out." K-Mart stated, more than a little bit disturbed

"Yeah, when I realised that even if I could stop the hundreds of undead that were already in the building, all of them would themselves become zombies in only a few days, I grabbed what supplies I could carry and headed out. I had no trouble whatsoever escaping because as I said none of the undead paid me any mind."

"Why do you think that was? That they acted as if you didn't exist even though that first one seemed to know you were there? I know that the undead don't ignore Alice, I mean they attack her just as if she wasn't infected." K-Mart asked inquisitively

"The only theory I have is that when I tapped into my abilities, the T-virus in me mutated and became a strain superior to theirs, it would explain a bit why they actively avoid me now when I've gained full control of all my capabilities." Kyami answered with a shrug

"But weren't you scared? About being on your own out there, I know I would have—well I was"

"Any fear I had disappeared within a few hours after I realized that no matter where I went, to the undead, I didn't exist. I wasn't afraid of being alone because I always was, even before the end of the world"

"You were? But what about friends? I know you were home schooled but you must have had at least one friend"  
"Well yeah I did, but we didn't spend much time together because I always had a lot of stuff to do. She moved away when I was nine though and after the virus began to spread I couldn't get a hold of her"

"So you don't know if she survived" K-Mart stated sadly, she knew how it felt to lose a close friend because of the initial spread of the virus. She'd lost touch with her closest friend after her family moved less than a year before the T-virus came into play and there was no hope of them being reunited after the fact, she couldn't even remember her friend's name no matter how hard she tried, only her eyes.

"I think she did, even back then she was a fighter, if anyone could survive an apocalypse, it would be her" Kyami responded with a gleam in her eye and a small smirk. She knew for a fact that her childhood friend had survived because she was looking directly at her.

As they walked side by side out of the meeting hall that night, Kyami wondered if K-Mart would calm down enough to speak to her again before she left. She knew she had at least a week before she had to leave but it seemed it would take that long or even longer for the other woman to calm down. When she'd broken the news of her impending departure after they'd talked a bit more about her life just after being bitten, K-Mart had immediately torn into her about the effect her leaving would have on Ashley, Bee and even K-Mart herself. Kyami already felt bad about her need and desire to leave because of its effect on her daughter and the lecture from K-Mart had only made her feel worse. It took her almost fifteen minutes to calm K-Mart down enough to get the opportunity to explain the project she was planning to undertake; at the end of the explanation K-Mart was still fuming but had reluctantly admitted that she could see the usefulness of setting up such a system. It then took another five minutes of begging—and she was not ashamed to say—pleading for her to convince K-Mart to stay over that night as she planned to break the news to Ashley before bed and she hoped her daughter would handle the news a bit better with someone she had bonded with close by.

After sharing her plan with the members of the compound, Kyami had told them to take at least two days to think before deciding whether or not they would be leaving with her the following week. She made sure they knew the danger they were going to be in and asked that they thought long and hard about it and talked to their families. She was already calculating how long it would take if she made the trip alone and how many trips she would have to make because she had a feeling not many people if any would want to take the chance, just for some running water.

After collecting Ashley from the woman designated the watch the children during the meeting, the three females headed to the Malti house. It didn't take long to get Ashley washed and changed for bed but it was obvious that the child sensed something was amiss from the way she kept looking from one adult to the other and the way her little body tensed as her mother held her in her arms after laying beside her in bed and K-Mart sat on her other side. As soon as she heard why both adults had seemed wary that evening she began to cry. She didn't want her mother to leave again, she made it back okay the first time but that didn't mean she would a second time. She knew everyone kept telling her it wasn't her fault and her mother just said this trip wouldn't be as long as the first but she just wanted her mommy with her, that wasn't too much, was it? As she saw the tears in her mother's eyes, she realised that her mother probably didn't want to leave her too and in only the way a child can Ashley came up with a simple solution.

"Take me with you mommy!"

"What? No honey you can't—"

"We were okay before we came here, so you can take me with you! I promise I'll always stay close to you, please mommy please! Don't leave me please, please don't leave me!"

"Baby—"

"Mmmoooommmmyyyy pppllleeeaaaasssseee! I'll be good mommy, I'll be good. Please take me, please!" cried Ashley pleadingly

"Tell you what? I'll think about it, okay? I'll think about it and tomorrow at dinner time I'll give you my answer, alright?"

"Promise?" Ashley asked as tears streamed down her face

"I promise" Kyami replied reluctantly

"Okay mommy" answered Ashley with a hiccup while her mother wiped the tears from her face with the end of her nightshirt.

"Now how about you tell K-Mart goodnight and try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Goodnight K-Mart, goodnight mommy, I love you" the little girl obeyed with a yawn

"Goodnight Ashley" K-Mart answered as she walked towards the door

"I love you too angel" whispered Kyami as she kissed her daughter on her forehead and tucked her in. She knew K-Mart would be waiting for her in the living room and as she closed the door to her daughter's room, she refused to contemplate why that thought brought a smile to her lips.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games.**

**A/N: So I have good news, I'll be staying with my aunt for a few months which means I'll be able to write, the bad news is that she may need me to move back out sooner than I anticipated and since I can't afford my own place yet, that may mean I gotta move in with my sister anyway, and that's just not cool. Sigh. Thanks for the reviews, makes me feel appreciated, even tho a lot of ppl have read and only a few reviewed, I still feel good. Not sure how much longer this story's gonna last but I'mma stick with it till the end despite all ma writer's blocks so no worries I won't leave you guys hanging. Anyway, read on and if you got the time, leave a review!**

"So what are you gonna tell her?"

"I don't know" Kyami answered with a sigh. She and K-Mart were sitting on the cushions before the fire after ensuring Ashley was truly asleep. "I don't really want to take her with me but the firecracker has a point, we were just fine before we got here. I didn't take her here for her safety; I can protect her just fine. I brought her here so she could be around people, she needed some social interaction, I just—I don't like the idea of putting her in danger. What do you think I should do?"

"I think a lot of things but I understand what you mean. What I do know is Ashley and Bee suffered the last time you left and I think that if you leave them behind again, it'll be harder to get them functioning. I don't want them in danger any more than you do but based on what I saw the last time, it may be your only option right now."

"You're probably right," responded Kyami pensively. "Thanks for coming over; I know things are okay but you don't have to go home. I have a perfectly good cot in a perfectly unoccupied room and you're more than welcomed to stay there as planned," she finished with a smile.

"You're welcome. Don't think just because I'm civil that I'm not still angry about this whole thing. I just can't understand why you would constantly want to put yourself in danger like that, but I guess it's not my place. I'm gonna head to bed, good night" K-Mart stated with forced terseness.

"Good night" Kyami responded with a small smile. She knew K-Mart wasn't as angry as she wanted her to think but decided not to call her out on it.

As Kyami sat and watched the wood burning in the fireplace she wondered when would be a good time to tell K-Mart who she really was. She knew twelve years was a long time and that was probably why K-Mart didn't recognize her as the little girl she used to play with and call her best friend. She knew questions would come up, questions she really didn't want to answer because they would show her hand in destroying the world as they knew it.

The day had come for them to head out for supplies, in the end nine men had decided to go on the run with Kyami and though she wasn't looking forward to spending a week or two in the woods with so many people trailing behind her, she was happy to be spending that time with her daughter. Ashley was beyond ecstatic when told that she would be joining the expedition with her mother; Bee was just happy that everyone was happy. Becky was less than enthusiastic that her best-friend would be leaving, even if it was only for a short time. As each person said their goodbyes to their family members, Kyami watched as Ashley hugged Becky and K-Mart, she could see the tears in K-Mart's eyes and knew she was thinking of the possibility of them not returning. As their eyes met Kyami gave her a nod of acknowledgement, she wasn't much for goodbyes and didn't intend to start now. Instead of watching the tearful partings she moved towards the gates, she knew they'd all get the idea that she was leaving, after a few seconds Ashley ran up and took her hand in hers with Bee keeping pace beside her, Kyami heard the men as they began to fall in line but didn't slow down, she'd told them before not to stay more than five feet behind her and she had no intention of reminding them of that. She knew she'd promised Alice and Claire to keep them safe but if they decided to ignore her rules then they were on their own.

"Mummy?" asked Ashley as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Yes angel?"

"Where were you last night? I woke up and you weren't there"

"I'm sorry honey; I went to check the parameter that I put up so that none of the bad people can sneak up on us."

"Oh okay. When are we going back home? I miss Becky and K-Mart," stated Ashley with a small pout

"Well we're going back home today. We found everything we need and more so we'll load everything in the trucks today and head back"

"But won't the trucks make noise and attract the bad people?"

"No sweetheart, I'll take care of that."

"Okay. What's for breakfast?"

"Haha, a one track mind huh? Come here you little munchkin," laughed Kyami.

The laughter of both mother and daughter and the excited barks of Bee could be heard all around as the camp came to life. Most of the men didn't even know that the stoic young lady could laugh as they rarely even saw her smile but this trip had provided them with the opportunity to experience a lot of her previously rare laughter. Everyone chipped in and before long breakfast was prepared and served, they all knew that they'd be heading home that day and were all anxious to get all the supplies packed and head off. When Kyami told them the mode of transportation they'd be using they were skeptical but after they saw her effortlessly move the vehicles with just her mind, they decided to take the chance. Granted a few were even more afraid of her and what she could do.

As they were loading the last supplies into the third truck, two undead appeared around the corner of the hardware but were quickly disposed of silently. The parameter alarms hadn't sounded so Kyami knew that could only mean that they were already in the town, probably had been confined to a building and finally found a way out. With everyone loaded into the trucks except Kyami, they set off. It took them four days to get to the compound as Kyami needed to rest every few hours as she wasn't used to moving so many vehicles at once. She knew the men were probably wondering why she asked them to come along in the first place but the strain of loading, steering and moving the vehicles would have taken too much of a toll on her mind and she would either be stuck moving three vehicles for a few months or making multiple trips with a smaller amount of load.

They were greeted with open arms and shouts of joy. Those who had families were treated to tight hugs and tears of relief that no one had been lost to any undead; the others who lived alone were greeted by their friends and instead of unpacking the trucks, the occupants of the compound gathered for a welcome home feast of sorts. They didn't want to use up too much supplies but it was an occasion that everyone considered worth celebrating.

As she watched the people around her greeting each other, telling jokes and overall just reveling in the joy of being together once more, it brought to Kyami's mind the scores of people who would never get to enjoy this, people who had lost their lives because Umbrella was greedy, people who died because of her. She knew ultimately what she really wanted to do in this dilapidated world; it was going to be her last effort at redemption. She planned to travel the entire globe, searching for survivors and rescuing them. Since she'd been on her own, she'd never once thought of attempting to save anyone, partly because no one had been nice enough to warrant the thought and partly because she'd been spending her time suppressing her guilt and buying into the thought that the world deserved what it'd got because there weren't enough good people in it to justify saving it. Subconsciously she knew she didn't believe wholeheartedly in that philosophy, evidenced by the measures she'd taken to undo what was done. Now that she was older and wiser and seeing the good in the people all around her in the compound, it brought home exactly what she'd missed out on and what she and Umbrella had destroyed.

Sitting there at the table and watching the smile on her daughter's face as she and Becky joked around and looking at the peaceful expression on K-Mart's face. Kyami vowed to do all in her power to right her wrong as much as she was able, even if it meant being away from the people before her for a long time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. Just wanted to add that I know NOTHING of Alaska, like at all, except how to spell the name and I know even less about winter, well except that it's fucking cold. I live in Jamaica where Mother Nature is stuck on summer, the closest I've come to winter is when we've had cold fronts and even those aren't really cold. This was just so no one reviews or messages me talking 'bout how I got some info or whatever wrong cuz that's bound to happen when the only time you'd been to the US, you went to Miami in summer.**

**A/N: So the start date for my job got pushed back so I'm back home for a bit, which means I can write free for a while. Having some trouble tho, I start the Monday and may need the Thursday off, well half day would do and I'm not sure if I should ask for it, sigh. All this stress is making my asthma issues worse, kmt. Read on folks, don't mind me and my ranting but if u think of a solution, leave it in a review or pm me, thnx. **

Kyami watched with pride as the men put the finishing touches to the improvements she'd spearheaded for the compound. Winter was only a few weeks away but already folks had to be donning thick coats to fight off the chill. Every cabin now had running water, and sported heaters, and new more comfortable furniture. She was happy they had got everything completed ahead of schedule as, a few weeks into the project due to a few setbacks, Kyami had calculated that winter would be upon them for a week before all was finished, but with Alice helping for a few hours every night while Kyami herself did some overtime, they'd managed to get everything completed with two weeks to spare.

Ultimately, Kyami intended to wait out the winter in the compound before informing everyone that she was leaving again, this time for a vastly longer time. She knew no one would take the news well, not Ashley, not Claire, not Alice and especially not K-Mart; not even the older lady who she'd made a brick oven for who baked bread for her on Wednesdays. No one would like it but it was something she was going to do, something she had to do. She'd begun preparing Ashley for the possibility of her leaving again, so far the child didn't seem opposed to the idea, as long as she kept reassuring her that she'd come back. She knew she could never give them any idea of how long she'd be away as they'd probably try to lock her in her room to prevent her from leaving, not as if that could stop her. Kyami already planned to just tell them that she was going to search for survivors while doing her best to avoid saying exactly where she was going, though it would be easier but more troublesome to say where she was _not_ going.

Sitting on the roof, Kyami watched as the trees were battered with snow as the storm got worse, everyone was hunkered down in their homes, sitting before fires and enjoying the overall warmth of the house. Being who and what she was, Kyami had little care for the cold, sure it was -25 degrees but with her parka on, she barely felt the chill. If anyone one could see her, they would wonder if the T-virus had finally robbed her of her senses as no one in their right mind would be sitting on their roof in a snow storm. It wasn't even the fact that she enjoyed the snow that caused her to be on the roof, it was the other person who occupied her house that chased her away, if only figuratively. Just before the first of many storms for the winter season, K-Mart had come over to borrow a few books, they all thought she'd be fine to walk the short distance back to the cabin she shared with Alice, Claire and Becky but when the snow fall and breeze picked up, no one expected her to almost be blown away when she went outside to begin the journey.

As a result of that near death experience, Kyami had been stuck with the honey blonde for three months and had at least two months left before it would be safe for K-Mart to attempt the journey again, it was a good thing she didn't mind sleeping on the couch because she refused to share a bed with the woman because unfortunately, after using the spare cot to help with the building of the new furniture, a new bed hadn't been placed in the spare room. Over the months after Kyami returned from the supply run, the two women had grown almost impossibly closer. K-Mart had commented a few times that she just couldn't understand how they'd gotten to be close friends so quickly but Kyami knew it was because of the friendship they'd shared as children, even if K-Mart had no recollection of it. After a few months they'd begun to share flirty glances, small intimate touches and even started to act a bit like a couple. For Kyami, the actions at first were unconscious and when she realized what was happening, she tried to taper them but found she couldn't help it, in the time she'd become reacquainted with her long lost friend, she'd fell inexplicitly in love without even being aware of it. She knew love wasn't something she was worthy of, especially if that love came from Dahlia and as a result did her best not to encourage the flirting. She had no clue how K-Mart really felt about her and truth be told, she was a bit scared of finding out.

Being stuck in a house with K-Mart and Ashley was actually not a bad thing in and of itself, it was just that each time she saw K-Mart smile or laugh at something Ashley said, she felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her smiling lips. It wasn't a thought she had the right to entertain after all she did, but it always came unbidden to her mind. She had a feeling K-Mart knew what kept going through her head as the women seemed to go out of her way to smile or laugh around her, or flip her hair and expose her neck to Kyami's wondering eyes. She'd decided to escape to the roof when she saw the yawns Ashley had been trying to hide, to avoid being alone with K-Mart as she knew it wouldn't be long before Dahlia realized the little girl was forcing herself to stay awake. Kyami had been on the roof for the past hour and hoped that K-Mart would go to bed soon so she could go back inside. She may not be able to feel the cold on the same level as a regular human but she still felt it.

It was in the final month of winter that things went in the direction that Kyami was avoiding. She'd been standing on the wall surrounding the compound during yet another snow storm, though the storms of late weren't as strong as their predecessors, they were still bad enough that K-Mart was still occupying Kyami's bedroom. She'd been standing there watching the trees and voicing out loud her plans when she felt the presence of someone behind her, knowing who it must be, she spoke without turning around.

"Hey Alice,"

"Hey Kyami, what are you doing out here?" asked Alice curiously

"Just watching the snow. You?"

"Just watching the snow huh? I come out here sometimes; it's kind of difficult being cooped up in the house for so long, I get antsy"

"Yeah I understand."

"So what's the real reason you're out here?

"I just had to get out for a little bit"

"K-Mart driving you crazy?" asked Alice with a smile

"Not exactly," answered Kyami with a smile

"No need to beat around it, I've seen the way you guys are around each other, she loves you Kyami and you love her"

"Love? What—oh no no no. She doesn't love me, I'm just the only person her age she spends a lot of time with and as for my feelings, at the most it's just infatuation; it will go away on its own." Kyami denied emphatically

"Kyami—"

"No Alice, I don't wanna hear anything else about it," Kyami interrupted tersely

"Okay okay I get it. So who's Lia?"

"What?" asked Kyami confused

"As I walked up I heard you say 'I'm sorry Lia.' Who is she?"

"Lia is short for Dahlia" Kyami answered with a sigh

"You got K-Mart to tell you her name? Wow, you must have a bigger hold on her than I thought"

"She didn't tell me, I just—I've known it for a while"

"Well if she didn't tell you how did you find out? You didn't—you didn't read her mind did you?"

"No! Jeez I don't even have the ability of telepathy"  
"Well how did you find out then? Google sure as hell isn't around anymore"

"We knew each other when we were kids; in fact we were best friends. The thing is she doesn't remember me"

"Whoa, and now you guys are in love. Damn."

"We are NOT in love! What the fuck's wrong with you? Fucking hell!"

"Calm down," Alice laughingly replied. "When are you gonna tell her?"

"I don't know; I'm not even sure I want to"

They stood together in silence looking out at the expanse of white before their eyes; it was a long time before the companionable silence was broken.

"I'm leaving." Kyami whispered softly, a regular person wouldn't have been able to hear her statement but she knew Alice would.

"Why?" asked Alice in resignation

"Because I need to. The other trips were just me trying to put it off but it's time I do what I should have done years ago."

"How long?"

"I'm not sure but I know it'll be too long no matter what."

"Okay"

"Why are you being so agreeable? I mean, even though I had this feeling you would have the least resistance, I didn't think you'd practically open the gate and let me go"

"I'm not opening the gate and letting you go," laughed Alice "I just expected this, since the first time you told us you wanted to go on a supply run, I knew you were putting off the inevitable. I honestly thought you'd have been gone by now. I'm glad you stayed as long as you did though, it gave me time to get to know you and so far I've come to know a remarkable young woman."

"Thanks Alice, you know no one's ever said anything like that to me before," Kyami responded with a small smile.

"Well they've missed out. Are you coming back?

"I plan to, however long it takes," replied Kyami as she leaped off the wall

"You gonna tell them goodbye?"

"Ah no, that's not—it'll be too hard on them. They're asleep right now, I left letters on K-Mart's pillow; they say it all." Kyami answered as she looked back at Alice

"Take care of yourself Kyami"

"I will, watch out for them for me will you? Don't let Ashley get the thought in her head that I don't love her."

"I won't. What about K-Mart?"

"She'll get over her anger soon enough. Goodbye Alice"

"Goodbye Kyami"

Alice stood on the wall and watched Kyami until her silhouette was no long visible through the storm, she didn't know exactly what was pulling the young woman, but she hoped she found whatever it was quickly because she had a daughter and someone who was probably her soul mate waiting on her.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. **

**A/N: So I've added some new characters in this chapter and yes they're mine. Sometimes I think about this story, it seems to only have a few chapters left and then sometimes it seems to have more, oh well, I follow where the muse leads. Enjoy, and hit me up with a review or pm. I like feedback. **

_Dear __Li __K-Mart,_

_I know you're probably cursing the ground I'm walking on right now and saying I'm a coward for disappearing in the middle of the night and leaving only a letter by way of notification but it was the only way I could think of that would cause the least damage. First, I just want you to know that you're not the reason I left, you're the best friend a girl could ever ask for and I'm happy to know you, I just—I needed to leave, I've been putting off this trip for a while now and I figured this was the best time to get it over with. Second, I don't know when I'll be back but I'm asking you please to look after Ashley for me, I know you will as you already treat her like your daughter but I don't want to take it and you for granted. She adores you and I just—I like knowing she has someone who's there for her, you know? You can stay at my place if you like until I get back, I remember you said that sometimes you've felt as if you were intruding on Alice and Claire, so feel free to make my house your own, I won't need it for a while. Uh, I guess that's it. I promise to come back when I can, just uh, take care of yourself until then and I'll be seeing you._

_Kyami_

K-Mart placed the letter between the pages of her favorite book; she'd developed the habit of reading the short letter Kyami had left behind every night before bed. She knew what she felt for the woman was more than friendship and was frustrated and sad that it took Kyami disappearing for her to realize what her feelings truly were: she was in love. Kyami had been gone now for four years that coming winter; K-Mart knew the woman had said she didn't know when she'd be back but she never thought it would be this long. K-Mart had done everything in her power to ensure Ashley hadn't forgotten her mother and she was relieved to say her efforts had paid off. Ashley had grown into a wonderful girl and even though almost everyone in the compound had lost hope that Kyami would ever return, Ashley remained steadfast in her conviction that her mother was coming back, when asked how she knew that, the girl's simple answer was: 'She promised and Mummy never breaks a promise'. Every night K-Mart asked a God she didn't believe in to bring her best friend and love home safely and in one piece. She knew the woman was superhuman but that didn't mean she couldn't do with a little help. As she snuggled under the covers she wondered how long it would take for Kyami to tell her that she was the same best friend K-Mart had feared had died during the initial outbreak of the virus. She knew Kyami thought she didn't remember her but those intense green eyes that seemed to look into a person's soul and always seemed wiser than they should be, were eyes that no one could ever forget and why would they want to.

Kyami carefully allowed the passenger plane to touch down on the bare plot of land just on the outskirts of the Yukon Territory. Her twenty three passengers, including six children cheered enthusiastically. Other than the people she'd left behind in the compound, they were the last of the human race. Over the space of four years she'd flown to every single corner of the globe rescuing survivors and disposing of undead. Any infected survivor was quickly taken care of in a painless manner. Now she had the last of humanity and they were headed home. As they got their belongings and disembarked from the plane, Kyami wondered how Ashley looked, she would be ten years old that coming November and Kyami knew she'd be a whole lot bigger than she was four years ago. As the thought of K-Mart entered her mind, she quickly turned her mind to other things, she'd hoped her feelings for Dahlia would dissipate while she was away but they'd only gotten stronger.

"So which direction are we headed? And please tell me we're taking a bus or something because I am not in the mood to walk right now," asked Jackson as he helped his little sister Kyra with her bags.

"Bus huh? And what the hell would you have done if Kyami here hadn't taken care of all the undead? Walking would have been your only option then," retorted Kate, Kyami's best friend.

"Well if she hadn't gotten rid of all of them I doubt we'd be here right now," answered Jackson

"Hey guys calm down, I know we've been in a cramped plane for hours but jeez, you guys were acting like best friends just a day ago!" exclaimed Naomi in exasperation.

Soon after starting on her journey four years ago, Kyami had met Kate in Montana when she'd rescued her from a hoard of undead; they'd become best friends after realizing that they shared of lot of the same interests, they'd even gotten close to the point that Kyami had even revealed her role in the outbreak of the T-virus and surprisingly hadn't been judged. For almost two years they had been each other's only human contact until they had found Jackson, his sister Kyra and a few others hiding out in a factory in Colorado. The rest they say is history. The last to join the group were Andrew, Naomi, Crystal, Paul and their two kids Joshua and Ainslie, who they'd found hiding out on a small island off the coast of Australia. They'd avoided the undead on the mainland long enough to escape to the island, only to then face the danger of the indigenous animals there that had avoided infection. How they'd survive long enough to have kids and raise them to the blessed ages of eight and seven was a question no one wanted to ask.

So far no one had questioned why she was recuing them or how she could rid an entire city of the undead without so much as moving a muscle but she could see on their faces that they very much wanted to. She knew they had their suspicions but so far they only seemed relieved at being rescued and had shown no fear.

"Not to pop your bubble Jackson but we're gonna have to walk for a while, at least until we reach the nearest town, for as you can see there are no vehicles anywhere near here." Kyami said with a small smile.

"Crap," muttered Jackson dejectedly.

"Or if you guys want I can go ahead and get the vehicle and come back for you," Kyami suggested.

There was a resounding chorus of 'No!' all around. No one knew exactly who or what Kyami was but they were all aware that she was their best hope of survival if they were attacked so no one wanted to be away from her for too long, even if that meant walking for miles in the scorching sun.

"Okay then, let's get moving, if we start now we should be in Dawson by nightfall. That way we can all rest up to begin the journey to the compound in the morning."

That night after finding a motel and an abandoned Greyhound which was surprisingly in good shape, they sat down to their dinner of veal and rice.

"Anyone wanna wonder how that Greyhound got up here in the first place?" asked Jackson

"Hell no, I'm only glad it was or we most definitely would be walking the rest of the way cause there's no way in hell we'd find something else to take us all. All the trucks we've seen were either totaled or rusted beyond recognition and multiple vehicles are out of the question," responded Kate.

"Why would it be out of the question? We'd still get where we were going" asked Crystal curiously

"Sure we would but would you want to be an entire vehicle away from Kyami if something went wrong?" asked Jackson.

"Guys come on. Nothing could go wrong except for a flat tire or a wild animal attacking, both of which can be easily solved. No undead exist anymore, you all know that, and you don't need to rely on me in the event that something does go wrong because you can all take care of yourselves; you did before you met me," stated Kyami with mild irritation. She resented the fact that her companions relied heavily on her for protection. It was as if they'd all forgotten that they'd taken care of themselves for years before she'd found them.

"You have a point but it's still safer being near you," mumbled Jackson sheepishly.

Kyami just shook her head with a smile. She knew that despite knowing no undead would jump at them from the shadows, they were still afraid. She didn't blame them, she knew the horrors brought on by the outbreak would live on in their minds; it wasn't something that would be easy to forget.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games.**

**A/N: Okay so as you can probably see I've been having Kyami refer to K-Mart as Lia a few times, from now on I should warn you that I'll probably be using those names interchangeably to refer to K-Mart, so please don't go thinking it's someone new, okay. One Love**

K-Mart quickly threw down the book she was reading as she heard the commotion at the gates. Before she could warn Ashley to stay put, the little girl ran through the open door with the ever faithful Bee only a step behind her. Within seconds K-Mart was running towards the gates, only to come upon the crowd of survivors all anxious to find out the cause of the commotion. It took even Claire and Alice a while to get through the crowd to the sentries atop the fencing.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Claire shouted when she finally stood beside the shift leader.

"Potential hostiles approaching, they aren't moving like undead but they aren't moving like survivors either. We've fired warning shots but all they did was stop for a few seconds and then continue. "

"Fuck! I thought Kyami said she'd put up sound traps around the place," Claire muttered to herself anxiously. "Shoot them! It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Yes ma'am!"

Because of the traps Kyami had set before leaving the compound she'd decided they would leave the bus in the nearest town and travel the next forty miles on foot. She knew how to circumvent the traps in a vehicle but was thankful no one in her party had figured that out. If they knew the real reason she had them on foot was because she had a feeling as soon as the sentries saw them they'd fire at them, they'd think twice about going to the compound. As she predicted as soon as their group was about forty feet from the compound warning shots were fired at them; automatically Kyami raised a telekinetic shield around the entire group, she wasn't taking any chances.

"What the fuck?! Why are they shooting at us?" Jackson asked while keeping a tight hold on his twelve year old sister.

"They think we're a threat"

"How can they think we're a threat? We don't smell, sound or walk like the undead. Damn it! Can't you just tell them who we are?"

"Of course I can but who the fuck's gonna hear me from so far away?" Kyami responded in frustration, everyone around her was panicking and seemingly unaware that none of the bullets were touching them. "There's someone there who can hear me but seeing as they've stopped shooting she probably isn't at the fence. I can't go ahead and talk to them because I don't want to leave you guys unprotected, so we're gonna have to stay together. Let's go and make sure to stay together."

They'd only gone about ten feet when all the sentries opened fire on them. Kyami knew Alice would be on the fence with Claire and the sentries but was too angry to try communicating with her. When she saw that they were now fifteen feet from the gates she brought the group to a stop.

"What the fuck's wrong with you?! If I didn't know Alice and Claire would be pissed I'd rip your fucking head off!" Kyami shouted at the head sentry

"Who is it?" asked the sentry stupidly

"Who is it?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Alice! Where the fuck are you?! If you or Claire don't answer me right now I can't guarantee the safety of this goddamn motherfucker! I leave for a few years, bring back survivors and this is how you welcome us? Bullets? Goddamn bullets?! What if you'd shot one of the kids huh?! Fucking hell! If you guys didn't have a few people I wanted to see I'd just turn the fuck around and leave!"

"Kyami? Oh my god! Open the gates!" Alice shouted in joy and surprise.

Before the gates could open more than a few inches, the body of a child could be seen squeezing through and then running towards the group standing outside the gates.

"Momma!" Ashley shouted as she ran to her mother with her arms outstretched.

"Hey angel!" Kyami responded with a smile as she swept her daughter into her arms. "Oh my, you're so big! I've missed you so much!" she continued while hugging Ashley tightly to her chest. As the excited barking of a dog at her feet finally registered, she stooped to give Bee a one armed hug, "I missed you too Bee, you did a great job taking care of Ashley huh. Good girl!"

"Did you have to cuss so much? I thought you said there were children with you?" questioned Claire with a smirk as she approached the group. "Welcome back," she whispered as she shared a hug with Kyami. "I know someone other than your daughter and dog that's been dying to see you."

Kyami chose only to respond to the first statements as she greeted Alice with a hug. "Cussing isn't anything new to these kids; Jackson here has the dirtiest mouth in existence, every other word out his mouth is a cuss word."

"Hey! I do not cuss that much!" Jackson objected indignantly

Alice and Claire turned to the group of survivors and introduced themselves. They then gave them the rundown of the compound before telling them their first stop would be Dr. Matthews so each of them could get a check up and get their medical files started. As the group followed Alice and Claire into the compound, Claire turned to Kyami and mouthed the word 'later'. Kyami knew that meant she was to meet them in their office after dinner to debrief. As the group cleared the gates, Kyami saw that K-Mart stood there staring at her with tears running down her face. As soon as they were face to face, before a word could be said between them, K-Mart leapt into her arms.

"I've missed you so much," K-Mart barely managed to utter through her tears.

"I've missed you too Lia," responded Kyami as her body shook with repressed emotions. Before she could make up an excuse for the use of the shortened form of K-Mart's real name, the woman was out her arms and pounding her fists against Kyami's chest with a look of anger on her face.

"How could you leave us like that? And with only a damn letter to explain?! And it didn't even explain anything, just that you had left and didn't know when you'd be back! You damn lying—" K-Mart's sentence abruptly cut off as she again burst into tears. "I missed you so much and I was so worried that something had happened to you. You were gone for almost four years! I was so scared you wouldn't come back." K-Mart sniffed as she wiped her nose.

"Well I'm here now and I'm not leaving again." Kyami responded as she held the woman in her arms a little tighter.

"You promise?" both K-Mart and Ashley asked at the same time

"I promise"

That evening after the entire compound had enjoyed dinner together in the meeting hall, Kyami casually made her way to Alice's and Claire's office. After the new arrivals had all been given an all clear by Lei, she'd made sure to introduce Kate to Ashley and K-Mart. The arrivals had been split into groups and now occupied the remaining empty houses. The arrangement was only temporary until other houses could be built the following summer. She knew that K-mart would be waiting for her at home after she was finished with Alice and Claire and despite knowing that she'd probably have some hard questions to answer, she couldn't wait to see the captivating blonde that held her heart.

"Hey Kyami, again welcome home," Alice greeted her as she entered their office and took a seat.

"Thanks guys, it's good to be back. As much as I disliked the confinement I really missed this place," Kyami answered with a small smile.

"Alright, I know you're probably tired and I know for a fact that K-Mart is gonna have it out with you before you can get any form of sleep tonight so I won't keep you long, just give us the bottom line," Claire requested with anticipation.

"Bottom line is the world is now free of the undead, both human and animal and the T-virus itself is no more, well, as long as you don't count what exists in Alice and I." Kyami answered with a sigh.

"But how?" asked Alice curiously.

"Telekinesis basically. I was able to sever the spinal columns of all infected within a fifty mile radius intermittently; all the corpses were then burnt. The T-virus is unable to survive for extended periods without a host, so any remaining air borne virus should be obsolete at this point. It took a while, as you can tell but I went everywhere, even small islands in the Caribbean. Being able to sense the virus helped, I was able to take care of some areas from the plane. The people I brought back were the only non-infected that I found."

"You did great out there Kyami, more than you had to" commended Claire respectfully.

"Yea, the world out there isn't dangerous anymore. As long as no one decides to play with Alice's or my blood, the earth should be safe for generations to come." Kyami responded without looking in the eyes of either of the women before her. Guilt gripped her at allowing the women to continue believing that she was a hero for cleaning up a mess that she had inadvertently caused in the first place.

As Kyami walked the short distance to her house she wondered where tonight would lead. She knew K-Mart had questions and she had the uncanny feeling that she wouldn't be getting any sleep until they'd all been answered.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games.**

**A/N: So uh this chap is mainly interaction between Kyami and K-Mart, uh thinking of putting in a sex scene in maybe the next chapter idk if you guys want that but it's coming. Anyoo on with the story, tell me what you think and as for my most consistent reviewer so far, dstowe123, thank you for being there consistently, I look forward to your reviews even tho they're short, lol.**

K-Mart waited with anticipation for Kyami to walk through the door. She knew she was probably being pushy but she was determined to have a serious talk with Kyami that night no matter what. She hadn't a clue if Kyami returned her feelings but after the emotional rollercoaster she'd had to endure for the past few years waiting on Kyami to return, she knew she couldn't keep her love a secret for much longer. Unconsciously she sat a bit straighter as she heard the front door open and Kyami enter the house, without a word the woman came to sit beside her on the couch. Taking a deep breath, K-Mart began.

"Why? Why did you leave like that? I know you said that was the way with the least damage but I know that was just a bullshit excuse."

"I don't," Kyami began but then sighed. She knew K-Mart would expect an honest response to everything being said tonight and Kyami knew she deserved it; it was time to come clean about everything, no matter how small. "Honestly? I was scared. I mean I knew you guys would disagree with me leaving and would try to stop me but I knew that no matter what you said, nothing would have prevented me from leaving that winter and I was scared to see what my leaving would have done to you, both you and Ashley"

"Maybe if you'd explained why you needed to leave so badly we wouldn't have tried to stop you. Can you tell me the reason now?"

"I want to and I will, just not yet. Tonight yes, but not now"

"Okay. You called me Lia earlier at the gate. I know you never meant to but when were you going to tell me that you were the same best friend I had as a child that I thought had died when the T-virus first spread? You were the only one who ever shortened my name, and the only one I've allowed to."

"I don't know. You didn't seem to remember me and I thought you preferred it that way. You rarely spoke of your life before the outbreak, hell you even started going by a new name. I figured you didn't want anything to do with anyone or anything from before," Kyami replied with a shrug and a sheepish smile.

"It wasn't anything like that. After the outbreak so many things happened but I never forgot you, sure I don't like talking about my family or the world before everything went to hell but my memories of you never left, I remember all the times we spent together and even our phone calls, I just couldn't remember anything about your face except your eyes. Those are also the same things that made me recognize you, I've never seen another pair of eyes in that exact shade of green, before or since I met you. Did you really not know when you'd be back? Did you even plan to come back?"

"Of course I did! I never break a promise and I promised I'd come back," responded Kyami passionately.

"So why did you stay away for so long?" K-Mart asked as tears again came unbidden to her eyes, she was through with crying and as such blinked them back.

"I never meant to stay away for so long, please believe me. But sometimes getting to the survivors meant going on foot through town that were filled with blockades and sometimes fuel was hard to find. We also couldn't leave an area until all the undead had been disposed of as we didn't want any fires to get out of hand. It wasn't intentional Lia, believe me, if I could have done it all in less time I would have!" Kyami pleaded anxiously.

"Can you tell me now why you had to go? Please?"

Kyami looked in K-Mart's eyes and saw compassion, joy and something else she couldn't identify staring back at her from the hazel depths. She hoped K-Mart wouldn't judge her for what she'd done, because seeing disappointment in those eyes would break her heart. Taking a deep breath, she began.

"You remember how when we were younger, we couldn't see each other much because my parents always had something planned for me that you couldn't be a part of?" At the nod of K-Mart's head Kyami continued. "I was born a prodigy, at two years old I was already reading at the grade level of a ten year old and could understand concepts beyond that age. When I was three, I was tested and dubbed a certified genius; at five years old I took the SATs and scored a near perfect score. When we met at the dinner party at my house when we were seven, the party was to celebrate my first doctorate."

Kyami paused for a few seconds, she really didn't want Lia to know what she did but she couldn't change her story and she wouldn't think of lying. With a sigh, she continued. "When I was eight years old, the Umbrella Corporation contacted me; they had read my dissertation and were interested in hiring me to work on a project with a Dr. Ashford. At first I was reluctant because I was already under enough pressure from my parents and was just seeking a way to be a normal eight year old. Anyway, one day after a particularly long argument with my mother about my studies and piano lessons, I decided to accept the offer. The project I was to be working on was the T-virus." Trying hard to ignore the gasp of surprise form K-Mart, Kyami continued. "When we perfected the virus, we didn't notify the Chairman because we knew it had the potential to be harmful. Dr. Ashford had confided in me that the virus was to assist his daughter as he didn't want her to end up spending her life in a wheelchair as he had. Except somehow Chairman Wesker found out that we'd perfected the virus and took it from us. We were then placed on another project and told to forget everything about the virus. Less than a year later the outbreak happened in Raccoon City and Dr. Ashford was killed."

"Ky—"

Not wanting to hear the disgust that she was sure would be thrown at her, Kyami continued as tears fell down her face. "I had to search for all the survivors because if it wasn't for me, the T-virus would have never existed. Dr. Ashford developed the virus yes but I made it what it was: a weapon. Without me it would have taken him years to get it to the level where it would help his daughter but it would have never gotten to weapon status—" Kyami was cut off as K-Mart took her head in her hands.

"It wasn't your fault." K-Mart said with conviction while staring into Kyami's eyes. She knew the woman had blamed and was blaming herself for the outbreak of the virus and she couldn't allow that to happen. Umbrella destroyed the world on their own; they weren't forced to market the virus for anything other than its original purpose of stopping a degenerative disease.

Kyami found she was unable to look anywhere but into the captivating hazel eyes before her. "You were a child, you only did what you were told to, and none of this is your fault."

"But—"

"**None** of this is your fault. You're a wonderful and selfless person. Only someone as strong as you could live with this unfounded guilt for so long and not crumble and I'm proud of you. I'm proud to say I'm in love with a person who's practically carried the wait of the world since the age of nine."

"You love me?"

"Yes. Yes, I love you."

"Oh Lia," was the only thing Kyami could utter as she leaned forward. She hovered, sharing a breath until finally, her mouth slid gently over K-Mart's. The kiss was sweet and tender, the kind that warmed from the inside out.

"When the outbreak happened I blamed myself, if I hadn't help Dr. Ashford perfect the T-virus, none of this would have happened. When I got bitten, I believed it was payback for making the virus and I felt I deserved it. I welcomed the thought that I was gonna suffer before I turned because in my mind that was my punishment, that's why I didn't tell my siblings I was bitten because I knew they'd kill me immediately and I didn't want that, I felt I needed to suffer. When I didn't die I came to the conclusion that my fate was much worse than death: I was to watch the world die, I was to live and witness the consequences of my choice, no matter I was just a child when I made the decision. Then you came along, and made me rethink the reason why I lived. You're pure K-mart, I don't deserve you're friendship much more your love. I'm supposed to live the rest of my years in pain, I'm not supposed to fall in love, nor, receive it. Just the fact that I now have a daughter hurts me because I know I don't deserve her love, if it wasn't for me, she would still have her parents and you'd still have your family, billions of people would still be alive. I don't deserve your love Lia, I don't. But I crave it so much and even though I know I shouldn't, I feel I'm in love with you too. You make me feel alive, something I haven't felt in a long time, if ever. Sure I was privileged growing up but I suffered, not the way others did but I still suffered and I've always thought that was my destiny, to always suffer at the hands of others. Stupid, I know, but that's just how I felt, but you...you changed all that. You showed me that love is out there for me, even though I thought I didn't deserve it, even though I was a catalyst in the world dying, even though the world is dead, I'll still find love...in you. But I don't know what to do with it. I feel all these things inside when I talk to you and when I think of you but I've never been in a situation like this before and I don't know what to do."

"Love me. It's the only thing you can do. I won't let you deny what you're feeling just because you feel responsible for all that's happened to the world because you aren't. You're a wonderful person Kyami, and I love you, never forget that."

**A/N: Okay kiddies here's a lesson in Patois, Jamaica's native language (even tho some ppl think it's English). Sigh, I always have trouble writing Patois, I read so much I have no trouble talking it cuz I grow up around it but writing it is a totally diff story.**

**Like ow mi gi unuh dem tree chapta yah ina jus few ours, me nah upload chapta fifteen yah now evin doh me dun write it. Me ago mek unuh wait a likle while, mayb a week or so, so me can write sum mor. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games.**

**A/N: Okay so I know I said I wouldn't update for about a week but the chapter kept taunting me and I really wanna know what you guys think. Sofia2000 thanks for your review, it was much appreciated. I tried my best with this chapter, idk if it's disappointing or what but it's my first sex scene so please have mercy on my fragile heart.**

**This chapter is solely lemon, so yes only sex. Some may think they got here a bit too quickly but you gotta remember they had been supressing their love and were flirting before Kyami left for almost four years so after confessing, everything kinda came to the surface.**

Kyami fell back on the bed under the onslaught of K-Mart's demanding lips. They had ended up making out on the couch after their talk, until she had breathlessly suggested they move to the main bedroom. This wasn't at all what she had in mind but her body was practically vibrating with need and she knew that even if she had the smallest of urges to stop what was happening, she wouldn't be able to. She squirmed to turn, positioning herself beneath K-Mart's body. Already, their hips were writhing in a quest for contact.

One hand swarmed her body, from the back of her thigh over the curve of her hip. Subtly, K-Mart teased the waist of Kyami's pants to slip inside and caress her ass. The fingers crept lower before they suddenly darted away, only to slide underneath her shirt and over her left breast. Kyami thrust her chest forward, all but begging K-Mart to touch her breasts. The feelings that were coursing through Kyami's body were utterly new to her, sure she'd had fantasies and had touched herself a few times but nothing she ever did by herself had felt anything like this.

Kyami could hardly think from the sensations rocking her body. She wanted to rip her shirt off, but K-Mart had her pinned to the bed. Instead she slid her hands under K-Mart's blouse to stroke the smooth planes of her back. K-Mart abandoned one nipple for the other, teasing both into rock-hard peaks. Then she sat up to straddle Kyami's hips, massaging both breasts at the same time. "I wanna see these. Think you can part with some of your clothes?"

Kyami knew she should answer K-Mart's question but her mind was so muddled that she found it difficult to utter the words that would let K-mart know she was so hot, if she went outside, all the snow near her would melt. Her body felt as if it was overheating, and she had the offhand thought that she was probably very close to having a nose bleed. That nearly happened anyway when K-Mart suddenly lifted her own top above her head and tossed it to the floor. She was a little thinner than she appeared in her clothes, and her C-cup breasts were high and round, with wide pink nipples as hard as her own.

Kyami raised her arms above her head as K-Mart helped her out of her tank top. Slowly, K-Mart lowered her hips between Kyami's legs, bringing their nipples together as they kissed again. Her hands then snaked underneath to clutch Kyami's back as she began a slow grind. Kyami's body was pounding with need as K-Mart pressed rhythmically against her clit, which felt as big as a cherry. Kyami spread her legs wider and wrapped them around K-Mart's thighs. She then gripped K-Mart's butt and pulled her closer.

K-Mart nipped her earlobe before whispering, "God, you feel good." She then scooted lower and took a nipple in her teeth. Kyami hissed, suspended in ecstasy as she vaguely wondered if she should tell K-Mart that she wasn't afraid of a little pain so she could bite harder if she wanted.

K-Mart immediately released her bite and licked the nipple gently. "Sorry. I've been thinking about this so long that I can already tell I'm going to have trouble controlling myself." Kyami took her head with both hands and drove it back down. "Don't even try." It was the only way she could think of to let K-Mart know that she was okay with her being rough. K-Mart sucked and nibbled her nipples until she thought she might scream. Her breath hitched as K-Mart's lips left her breasts and travelled slowly down her abdomen. When K-Mart tugged on the waist of her pants, she raised her hips to allow them to be removed.

K-Mart then removed her own pants and knelt between Kyami's knees. "Lovely," she said, trailing her fingers along Kyami's thighs to the edge of her clean shaven lips and back. Kyami waited with tingling anticipation for the touch of K-Mart's tongue. When it finally came, it teased her lips apart gently before swirling inside her. Kyami tried to take her deeper, instinctively raising her knees to open herself more. K-Mart's shoulders moulded to the backs of her thighs and pushed her hips up off the bed. Hands wrapped around her waist and parted her lips, exposing her clit to hot breath. None of the fantasies - rare though they were - that she'd had of K-Mart and what it would be like to make love with her came anywhere near the reality.

Kyami felt a quiver inside her and instinctively knew it meant she was close to having her first orgasm with another person. She couldn't even begin to describe how happy she was that that person turned out to be Dahlia, the only person she'd ever truly loved. Each time K-Mart's tongue crossed her clit, it grew stronger. Suddenly, K-Mart stopped her motions and before Kyami could inquire as to the reason, she felt a finger slide inside her. The finger slid in and out of her vagina several times before another one joined the first. Kyami moaned and thrust her hips forward to impale herself on K-Mart's fingers. She gasped for breath as K-Mart resumed licking her clit, matching the rhythm of the steady thrusts inside her. Kyami blindly gripped the sheets as she fought to hold her orgasm at bay. Suddenly, her walls erupted in spasms and K-Mart filled her, sucking her clit in short bursts to make the ecstasy last. When she opened her eyes, K-Mart was smiling at her, her lips poised just inches above her clit.

"I never knew I could feel so much in such a short time," Kyami said in awe. "I think you broke me," she continued with a laugh. Kyami hooked a hand behind K-Mart's neck and pulled her up so that they were face to face. "Kiss me." The kiss they shared was intimate and unwavering, as if they were acknowledging the new level in their relationship: they were now lovers.

Kyami put a hand on K-Mart's chest and pushed her back, rolling over on top to face her. "I get to have my way with you now." For the first time since they'd known each other, Kyami initiated a kiss, taking her time to explore K-Mart's mouth, her teeth, tongue and lips. Satisfied that she had touched every corner, her mouth travelled down K-Mart's slender neck to her collarbone, and out to her shoulder. Kyami lowered her mouth to K-Mart's breast, sucking a wide pink nipple between her lips.

K-Mart threw her arms over her head as though offering herself. With her eyes closed and her mouth parted, she was the picture of complete absorption. Kyami watched her face as best  
she could while fondling and sucking her breasts. The expression never changed until she traced her hand into the dark blonde triangle between K-Mart's legs. As her fingertips met wet flesh, K-Mart's face contorted and she moaned. Kyami felt her own loins buzz with excitement when K-Mart opened her legs. Leaving the breasts, she ducked between K-Mart's legs to explore the treasure her hand had found. Even in the dim light, she could see the glistening lips. Suddenly, Kyami was overcome with nervousness; she'd never had sex with a girl before, and had no idea what to do. Unbidden one thought came to mind "_Don't think, just do", _and without another thought she buried her mouth in the slippery slit.

**End note: Yeah so again this is my first sex scene, always thought about writing one but never had the courage to try it, please tell me what you think. One Love!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games.**

**A/N: Only one chapter left after this, was planning to make it longer but I got a semi-permanent job (contract's for a year). I'm an Account Officer, something I know nothing about. I've been so tired it took me two weeks to write this one chapter….or was it three? See I'm even losing my sanity. Stuffing my brain with this stuff is making it so that even when I'm home all I can think about is Accounts, I'm even dreaming numbers and procedures man. So due to all this, I know I won't be able to keep up the story if I extend it. I've already started chapter 17/The Epilogue so as soon as I can manage to finish that, which will prob be a couple weeks, I'll upload it. Please read and review. One Love!**

As she watched the sun rise and cast its light across the room, Kyami wondered if it was unusual to feel this light and carefree after what Dahlia and her had done the night before. With a small smile she raised her head to look at Lia who looked beyond innocent sleeping on Kyami's chest with a look of contentment on her face, or at least she'd look innocent if she wasn't calmly sucking on Kyami's right nipple in her sleep. Quietly and smoothly, Kyami brushed some hair off K-Mart's cheek. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she'd be lying in bed with her arms wrapped around someone she loved. Kyami quickly and tenderly removed her nipple from Lia's mouth before turning unto her side; with a serene and contented smile she started placing feather light kisses all over K-Mart's face.

"Morning," said K-Mart softly, wincing at the bright early morning light that filled the room and assaulted her eyes. With reluctance, she opened her eyes enough to see the face splitting grin that graced Kyami's face.

"Good morning," Kyami answered just before she leaned down to place a breath stealing kiss on Lia's lips.

"Mmmm. It's too early to be awake," K-Mart moaned as she reluctantly broke the kiss for air and stretched. She smiled to herself as her body relayed the message that it was pleasantly sore all over. They'd made love well into the morning and she was tired but not tired enough to not appreciate the picture Kyami made with her hair all mussed from their activities and the sun casting a glow upon her gloriously bare body. Her hair was a black as coal and was about waist length, how she'd kept it so long in this grueling world was a mystery. Noticing the playful glint in her lover's eyes, K-Mart decided to comment on Kyami's change in character.

"Well aren't you playful this morning. This is quite a change from the girl who barely even wanted to flirt with me the last time we were together."

"So you caught that huh? I'm just happy. I honestly never thought I'd ever feel this but now you've given it to me and I must warn you, now that you have me hooked, you'll never be able to get rid of me, no matter what."

"Why would I ever want to get rid of you?" K-Mart responded with a laugh. "You're the best of both worlds, you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for and you're also the best lover, which the five orgasms I enjoyed last night will attest to. If you hadn't told me, I would never have known that last night was your first."

"Thanks," Kyami said with a small blush. She'd figured she was doing something right with the way Lia had been writhing on the bed and screaming her name. It was a good thing she'd asked Alice and Claire to keep Ashley for the night, she'd anticipated screaming in the form of anger but the screams she'd evoked were so much better. She was kind of sad though that the numerous hickeys and scratches that K-Mart had given her last night were already fading due to her accelerated healing.

"No need to thank me for the truth but since you insist, how about thanking me with another round? You're already hard to resist fully clothed and having you naked in bed, well now you're beyond irresistible." K-Mart intoned as she pulled the smiling Kyami's lips down to meet hers.

Three hours and several orgasms later, the pair finally emerged from the cabin, refreshed and ready to face the day, despite the fact that it was now 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They hadn't gotten five feet out the door before Ashley had tackled her mother, if it wasn't for her enhanced strength, they'd both be on the ground. According to Alice, the little girl had been harassing her and Claire all day about why she couldn't see her mother but K-Mart was allowed to. It took all they had to keep the girl from barging into the house. They spent the remainder of the day with Becky and Ashley, as Kyami wanted to spend some quality time with her daughter and the little girl refused to part with her mother for more than a few minutes. As the evening drew near, Kyami felt a bit of tension seep into her body, tonight was the weekly community meeting and she was a bit apprehensive about what she had to say to the people. She knew that once they heard her idea and how she would be able to accomplish everything, a lot of people would hate her or at the least shun her for what she'd done. She'd never intended to reveal to the community who she was and what she was capable of but she had to if everyone was going to be able to move on now that the undead were wiped out. As they assembled in the meeting hall, Kyami found herself hoping that they would be able to look beyond what Umbrella had done and see the person they'd come to know since she'd settled at the compound.

"Before we head to our homes, Kyami has something she'd like to say to us all, I'd appreciate it if you'd give her your undivided attention," Claire said as she stepped from the podium after briefing everyone on the new additions and the state of the outside world. She hadn't a clue what Kyami intended to say and as far as she knew neither did Alice. Calmly she took her seat at the front of the hall and waited intently for Kyami to begin.

"Hey everyone, now as Claire just told you, the world is now free of undead and we are now officially the only humans left. The only way to go now is forward, eventually we're gonna have to branch out again, not for at least a few years or so but it will happen," Kyami began with some apprehension. "Now while out there searching for more survivors, I found samples that could assist us in producing food that we've been doing without for years, things like wheat, cabbage, tomatoes, stuff like that and other things, like pets. These seeds and compounds are safe and pose no threat to us, so you don't have to worry that the T-virus or something equally as bad will pop up again," emphasized Kyami.

"Where did you find these so called safe samples?" a man named Brian asked forcefully and with a small bit of curiosity.

"Uhm, in an Umbrella lab on the outskirts of Charleston, West Virginia," Kyami answered reluctantly.

"What?! So how the fuck can you tell that it's safe? You just took shit from an Umbrella facility and you want us to use it? Are you crazy?! Do you even care about us at all?" shouted Brian angrily among the chorus of protests being raised by everyone present at the meeting.

"Of course I care and I know it's safe because I was the one that put it there!" Kyami shouted above the ruckus. Following her declaration, the meeting hall went eerily silent.

"What do you mean you put it there? How would you have been able to place stuff like that in an Umbrella facility?" a disembodied voice shouted from the back of the hall.

"Before the world went to hell in a hand basket I worked for Umbrella. After the development of the T-virus and the subsequent outbreak in Raccoon City, I made a package and stashed it away for someone to find incase what we see today happened. It contained seeds for most crops, not just the ones found in the U.S. and sperm and egg samples from various animals."

"Bullshit! You're just a kid, before the outbreak you'd only have been eight or nine years old, how the hell would you have been able to do all that?" sneered one of the older men in the compound. His name was Jerry and ever since she'd gotten to the compound he'd found fault with almost everything she did.

"I was nine when the outbreak happened; eight when I developed the virus," Kyami responded with not a little anger at how the man had sneered at her as if she was worth less than the chicken shit on the bottom of his shoe.

"Oh come on, no eight year old could ever develop the T-virus. You're just a spoilt brat that wants to have her way."

"Oh fuck off dipshit! I don't need to prove shit to you, you self-righteous asshole!" shouted Kyami furiously. "The point everyone, is that I hid these samples for just this purpose; they're to assist with replenishing the earth, including livestock numbers. I've already decided to expand the dog population using Bee. You guys have until the next community meeting to decide if you want to use any of the seeds or compounds, depending on what you decide I'll start a farm outside the compound using the samples I have. Just let me ask you this, in all the time I've been here with you, have I ever done anything that wasn't of benefit to the entire community and why would I introduce anything to our food supply that would be harmful when I have a daughter and girlfriend— I mean, friend who would be eating it? Not to mention I'd be eating the food too."

On that note, Kyami walked off the podium and out the door of the meeting hall. She'd never intended to announce to the entire community that she was gay or even that she was in a relationship. She was just so frustrated with Jerry and his attitude that she'd allowed it to slip. She and Lia had confessed their love for each other and had even slept together but labels weren't something they'd even hinted at. She felt K-Mart's eyes on her as the exited the building and hoped that she hadn't crossed a line by referring to her as her girlfriend less than a day after being reunited.

As Claire stood to quiet the arguing crowd, K-Mart quickly rose to follow Kyami out the hall. She could tell by the look on her lover's face that she was apprehensive about something and Lia instinctively knew it had next to nothing to do with the views of the people she'd just spoken to and everything to do with her "girlfriend" slip up. Lia didn't mind being referred to as Kyami's girlfriend, in fact she loved the feeling she got hearing the word slip from Kyami's lips: it made her feel wanted; treasured.

With quickened steps she caught up to Kyami, spun her around and placed a deep kiss on her lips, one she knew Kyami wouldn't be able to resist and would therefore be able to ignore the people filing out of the meeting hall.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"Hush, it's okay," Lia said as she silenced Kyami with another short kiss. "I love hearing you call me your girlfriend but just so you know, that means you belong to me now. No more running off for months at a time."

"Of course I belong to you but only if you'll belong to me too. I already promised you last night that I wouldn't be leaving again and if I do have to, I wouldn't dream of leaving you." Kyami answered with a smile.

"Good. So what exactly are you planning to do if they decided not to use the seeds?" K-Mart asked as she linked her arm with Kyami's as they slowly made their way to the cabin.

"I've already decided to inseminate Bee tomorrow and that won't change. I want her first litter to be pure Shepherds, and then I'll start cross breeding her and her kids until we have a variety of breeds. As for everything else, I'll be planting a large farm about a mile out, whether or not they decide to use the seeds. I intend to plant a crop of every seed type I have and see how they grow based on the climate. If they decided to run me out of the compound because of who I am and what I intend to do, then I'll be moving out to the farm, you know, build a house and all that. I know Alice and Claire will bring Becky to visit Ashley more often than not, and we'll see how the people react when I have tomatoes, pepper, sweet potatoes and sugar cane growing and they're still stuck on chicken and wild roots with whatever tin goods they have left. I'll have to build a barn and greenhouse too but that's expected for some of the crops," Kyami finished with a self-satisfied smile.

"So you'll move with Ashley, whose best friend will visit and you'll torment the people with crops they turned down, okay," commented Lia with a smirk. "so what about me?"

"You?" asked Kyami with a small mischievous smile.

"Mhm," responded Lia with one eyebrow raised.

"You'll be in the kitchen making corn bread and fried chicken," she answered with a smirk.

"What?! Are you fucking with me right now?!" Lia shouted indignantly.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, you'll be right there with me, working the fields during the day, cooking dinner for our daughter in the evenings and making love during the night, sometimes all night."

"Really now?" Lia asked with a glint in her eyes.

"Of course"

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because you love me and I love you"

"Damn right and don't you forget it," she responded with a strict expression on her face.

"Never" Kyami retorted with a smile of contentment, other than this morning after waking, Kyami couldn't remember a time when she'd felt this happy. She felt as if someone had stuffed her chest with lava and it was just bursting to come out. She knew what she was feeling, was the love she felt for Lia, it wanted to come out in whatever way possible; she found that she couldn't hold it back and neither did she want to. Unable to resist, she stopped and placed a tender kiss filled with love on her girlfriend's lips, then with each of them wearing a smile, they continued walking.

"We'll share the food with them if they want it though," Lia intoned and waited for the outburst.

"Oh hell no—" Kyami began.

They could be heard arguing good naturedly the rest of the way to Kyami's cabin, actually the arguing didn't stop until they got to the master bed room, where the sound of arguing was replaced by pleasure filled moans.


	17. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyami, Ashley, Bee, Lei and any other character I decide to throw in that wasn't in the movies or the games. **

**A/N: So we've come to the end of another story. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me through it all. Still haven't gotten any feedback about that uhm sex scene that I threw in there and if I can attempt to write another if I decide to try writing another story but it's okay. It's been a joy and an experience, thank you for taking the time to read my drivel, without further ado, here's the final chapter.**

Kyami watched serenely from the porch swing as Ashley and Becky held hands and ran through the corn field behind their house. A smile filled with contentment slowly blossomed across her lips as she felt the arms of her wife wrap around her from behind. The now twelve year old Ashley was even more attached to her mothers and her best friend after being separated for a few months because of a snow storm the previous winter.

As Kyami looked back at how things went after she returned from purging the world of the undead, she realized she didn't regret any of the decisions she'd made. At the community meeting following the one where she'd revealed her final agenda to the community, she was voted out of the compound due to a majority of the people feeling as if she was ultimately doing them more harm than good. The only ones who hadn't voted to evict her were Alice, Claire, K-Mart, Lei and the nice lady who gave her bread, or did when flour was still available. Even the people who'd greeted her with hugs and had expressed their thankfulness and relief that she'd gotten back safely had voted against her.

Unsurprisingly, the group had also wanted her to leave behind her daughter and dog, stating that she wasn't worthy to raise such a wonderful girl. In the end, they'd packed their bags over night and hand in hand had exited the compound with K-Mart and Ashley, with Bee walking beside them and the survivor's she'd brought back behind them, Jackson leading the crowd with a glare on his face. Before leaving she'd asked Alice and Claire if she could take the cabins that she and the others had been calling home, and with their permission she'd returned only a few days later to rip the houses up from their foundations and transport them to the plot of land two miles south of the compound that they'd decided to call their own. Despite being cold, no one complained about having to sleep outside for the first few nights as they went about connecting the structures to their new foundations.

Within a few weeks the group had planted three acres of crop and Kyami could confirm that the insemination had taken and Bee was now pregnant. It hadn't taken them long to fall into a routine of sorts and only a few months later they all decided to rip the three cabins apart and build a multi-story lodge before the winter storms started. With Kyami and Alice—who was visiting with Claire and Becky—using their telekinesis to do all the moving and heavy lifting, the new lodge only took two days to complete. Each floor had multiple apartments and the ground floor had a communal area for them to bond. The remaining wood along with some that had been gathered from fallen trees nearby was used to build a shed, a large barn and a good sized lab for Kyami. The equipment for the labwouldn't be transported from the plane they'd left on the outskirts of the Yukon Territory until the following spring but they wanted to make sure the space was ready for them when they arrived.

The following spring Bee gave birth to eight beautiful puppies, five females and three males and the winter crops gave a wonderful yield although it was mostly squash. It was a few weeks into spring that they got their first surprise when one of the kids came to call them in the wheat field, letting them know that Lei and the bread lady who's name they came to find out was Ailey, had come to visit with bags. Upon investigating they found out that both ladies had disagreed so much with what was done with them that they'd wanted to leave with the group but had duties keeping them in the compound. Ailey had gotten herself relieved quickly enough but had resolved to wait with Lei until after winter had passed. Lei told them that she would still provide medical assistance to the people in the compound but her home was with them now.

It was only a month later that Alice, Claire and Becky moved also, using the excuse that Becky missed Ashley too much to settle for only visiting. They found out a few days later at dinner that though that was one of the reasons for their move, it wasn't the only one. It turns out that the people in the compound were so jealous and peeved that their plan to get rid of Kyami had backfired that they'd begun trying the usurp Alice and Claire's leadership. Not everyone had agreed with the idea but the amount of people rebelling had been so large that instead of staying to fight for something that was quickly losing its appeal, they'd decided to pack up and get out.

It had only been eight months since Alice and Claire had joined them but with the way the small community worked in harmony, a stranger looking in could never tell. They had more food than they needed and periodically left gifts of grain and other food stuff outside the gates of the compound, against the wishes of Kyami who insisted "if they were stupid enough to chase away the people who had the means to get more food, then they deserve to starve". To compensate for the way they were treated, they never left too much food for the people only just enough that if used wisely, would serve them until the next reaping. So far they couldn't tell if the people ate the food or not but the parcels would always disappear a few hours after being left.

As she watched the girls playing, Lia squeezed the hand of her wife as she remembered how it felt to be only forty yards from the person you love and not being able to get to them. The previous winter, she and Kyami had waited with bated breath for a freak monster of a snow storm to blow over so they could once again be reunited with their daughter. Ashley, Becky, Claire and Alice had been in the barn doing some minor work when a snow storm had blown in out of nowhere; it had been the worse they'd ever seen and was so bad that not even the genetically enhanced women could venture out into it. The only saving grace was that there was more than enough food in the barn for the four of them to survive the month the storm ended up lasting. The day everyone was reunited was the first Ashley had called K-Mart "mom" despite referring to her as such many times before. It was two weeks after that Kyami and Lia decided to make their relationship as official as it could get and have Alice marry them. Lia had gone traditional and wore a white dress, one that she and Alice had flown to California to get, while Kyami had opted for a simple black tux. The wedding was a big a celebration as every other celebration in their community, which they had named "Paradise" because to everyone living there, in a world that died due to a virus, this was their piece of paradise.

"How are you feeling?"

Turning to her right and looking into the bright hazel eyes of her first friend, lover, wife and her soul mate, Kyami smiled tenderly.

"I'm feeling a lot of things but mostly I feel happy, content and loved. Life was bad sure but you made it better, first as the only friend to a lonely child and then as the person who introduced me to love. Now I have a wonderful daughter, friends who are basically family, a wonderful house and a wife who loves me almost as much I love her. What more could I ask for?"

"How about another child?"

"Another—what?! Oh my gosh, it took? You're pregnant?!"

"Yeah I am. Lei confirmed it this morning, I'm six weeks along."

"I'm gonna be a 'Momma'? Again?"

"You are!" K-Mart replied laughing at the look at absolute wonder and excitement radiating off her wife. With the way Kyami was reacting, one would ever know she was part of the reason Lia could now get pregnant.

"I love you." Kyami whispered as she kissed her wife, pouring all the love and joy she felt into the kiss, as she felt her wife respond just as intently, she couldn't help but release a sigh.

"I love you too" K-Mart responded as Kyami finally released her lips.

Wrapping her arms around her wife's waist and resting her palms on their unborn baby, Kyami relaxed as together they watched the sunset. If someone had told her even a few years ago that at twenty seven she would be married to the love of her life, with a twelve year old daughter, a dog and a baby on the way, she would have told them they were infected and the T-Virus was eating their brain. Now, she couldn't think of anything that would be better than the life she now lived, she was happy and that's all that mattered. Sure she would have loved it if the world hadn't been sent to hell in a hand basket but she knew that if it hadn't happened she never would have found the love she had.


End file.
